War for Peace
by Shadow0Fire
Summary: Rarely do those conquered by another nation view their enemy as anything other than evil. In a society forcefully separated by a misguided concept of balance, the longest Dark Age humanity has ever known is being brought to an end by the enlightened Fire Nation. Only the Avatar, the embodiment of tyranny and stratification himself, stands in their way.
1. A Certain Breed of War

**Revising this chapter for a second time, I've decided to make the opening a little different. Naturally only those re-reading it will notice. For those of you coming here for the first time, please note that this is fic is a lot less black and white than others. The story is mostly relayed through the perspective of Fire Nation citizens during the Hundred Years War. This means they will be very supportive of their homeland, their cause, and the actions they take. This doesn't mean I'll be glorifying the Fire Nation and condemning everyone else; it just means both sides will be treated fairly, and not through the binary fairy tale lens that makes one side objectively evil and the other objectively good. If that's not your cup of tea, this was your only warning.  
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 _Excerpt from Dissertation #40,076, Professor Lon'qu, Ba Sing Se University, 71 AU, Year of the Sheep_

 _Looking back on it, it is difficult to ascertain the exact cause of the Hundred Years War. Depending on who you ask, the bloodiest conflict in recent human history was waged for a variety of different reasons. Many refer to it as the Unification War, yet few ignore its other moniker, The Infernal Scourge. Seventy-one years after the conclusion of this great conflict, we are now at liberty to ask: what was the true purpose of the Fire Nation's desire for conquest? Unfortunately, while the memories have yet to be lost to time, the secretive nature of the war's perpetrator, Fire Lord Sozin, makes any definitive answer impossible. Speculation is the best we can manage._

 _On the other hand, records do exist, making our speculation far more credible. A detailed exploration of Fire Nation census records following the hundred years prior to the War reveals that the aggressor nation experienced remarkable growth of its population during this time: so remarkable that it was soon pushing the limits that the island country could sustain. One could assume then, that the Hundred Years War was nothing special at all, but simply an attempt by a burgeoning nation to claim more territory for its swiftly growing numbers. And yet, while this could have very well been a motivating factor in the initial stages of the war, the Fire Nation met that goal well within two decades, claiming more than enough land from the Earth Kingdom to support their new growth, casualties notwithstanding._

 _Why then, did the war continue on for another eighty years? Clearly territorial expansion was not the only reason the Fire Nation descended on the world at large. Was it honor? Anyone that has spoken to a native of the volcanic isles for more than a few minutes will tell you that the Fire Nation's culture reveres honor, courage, and glory to the extent that those values may as well be their gods. Did they continue the war for the sole reason of gaining glory and honor on the field of battle? Was the objective of conquering the world supposed to be nothing more than a monument to their own strength?_

 _Some of my fellow researchers seem to believe this, yet I cannot say the same. The University possesses many remnants of war propaganda from the conflict's main combatants: a quick glance at Fire Nation material will prove that their ideals of honor and glory were only marginally relevant to their cause at best._

 _Another theory is that the Fire Nation's imperial engine also had some underlying altruistic motives, though many of the ones who believe that attribute it more to a feeling of superiority than generosity. There is no denying that, just prior to the War and all throughout it, the Fire Nation enjoyed a significantly higher quality of living than their fellow countries. Aside from the brief population crisis that was quickly nipped in the bud due to the War, records indicate that poverty, homelessness, and illness were remarkably low in the island nation, a stark contrast to the Earth Kingdom's admittedly appalling overall state at the time. This is to say nothing of their great technological gains, far overshadowing all of the other nations of the world._

 _These factors lead some of my colleagues to believe that the War was little more than misguided pity and arrogance on the Fire Nation's part: that the Fire Lord felt obligated to raise the backwards, inferior civilizations of the world to the standard of his own country. I won't go so far as to say this isn't true at all. Many of our most prosperous cities today are Earth Kingdom towns that had been converted to Fire Nation colonies during the War. There's no denying that the Fire Nation did indeed raise the standard of living for many of the territories they conquered. I find it hard to believe they would dedicate time, resources, and manpower to the improvement of conquered Earth Kingdom land if such a thing had not been part of their plan from the beginning, though it is quite possible the Fire Nation only made these investments because those conquered lands were now theirs, and their rampant problems had become their own._

 _The final most common academic theory is that the Fire Nation was simply governed by a megalomaniac that wanted to make the entire world his property. After all, even the natives of the island do not deny that the genocide of the Old Air Nomads was an outright atrocity their country still atones for today. Maybe Sozin was simply an evil man that intended to wipe away all other cultures and peoples. However, I believe this theory is far too flawed to take seriously; following the initial genocide of the Old Air Nomads, the Fire Nation never again attempted anything similar on other cultures. We have irrefutable proof that Fire Nation prisoners of war were rarely executed, and indeed, the aggressors established governance over many Earth Kingdom citizens. The notion that they were simply waiting for Sozin's Comet to kill everyone at once is asinine; the comet wouldn't have been present long enough to even get close to such a goal. If genocide of all other races had been the intent, clearly the Fire Nation would have been systematically killing off their opposition throughout the course of the war._

 _I've made it quite clear that I don't fully agree with any of these theories on the nature of the Hundred Years War. I believe they may have all had some part in it, but I would like to present a new theory; liberating humanity from the chains of the spirit world. A very idealistic notion, I grant you, but one I believe may have been the true overarching cause of the Fire Nation in their global conquest. It only makes sense to me: prior to the Hundred Years War, the four nations of the world were kept in relative stasis by a very powerful spirit, the Avatar. It's also an established fact that Avatar Aang, primary opposition of the Fire Nation during the closing days of the War, narrowly escaped death during the genocide a hundred years prior._

 _It stands to reason that the main reason the Fire Nation was so ruthless to the Old Air Nomads is because they were absolutely determined to destroy the Avatar once and for all. Now, perhaps this was merely an attempt to eliminate a powerful and nearly guaranteed foe, but I believe it goes deeper than that. My evidence for this dissertation is a bit unorthodox; an autobiography written by a common soldier in the Fire Nation during the War's end. This record of events was unmarked and clearly untouched in the darkest corners of our University's library, and I count myself lucky to have stumbled upon it during my research. Admittedly, it is difficult to take everything in this tale at face value, for much of it is truly extraordinary. And yet, I find it fills so many gaps in our understanding of the war, of the maneuvers that took place behind the scenes, that I've yet to come across anything that contradicts the events we know to be true._

 _I apologize for the lengthy introduction, but I felt it was necessary to introduce my theory and this gem of knowledge I have so miraculously stumbled upon. I hope all of you on the University Educational Committee Board can appreciate the revealed mysteries this soldier's tale provides, and maybe, even consider an entirely new perspective on the Unification War._

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Nearly a full century after Firelord Sozin declared war on the world, the penultimate cause for which the Fire Nation fought was lost to many of those that engaged in battle. A select few remembered the grand cause their nation truly pursued: soldiers whose fathers had been soldiers, whose grandfathers and great grandfathers had been soldiers. Families with military lineages like these remembered their purpose, because one of their ancestors had been there when Sozin had sent them on their noble mission. Those soldiers passed down their quest to their sons, who likewise did it for theirs. Only a small portion of the Fire Nation's people still remembered that this war was about more than just conquest.

One such soldier was Corporal Xisheng, great great grandson of Weisheng, who had been a member of one of the very first battalions to be deployed on Earth Kingdom soil. Once a member of the 12th Guard Division, he had been pulled from the defensive line in the Earth Kingdom to serve in the massive armada Admiral Zhao had put together for the North Pole invasion. It was an odd duty station for an Army Firebender that had no experience on ships aside from the initial ride from his homeland to the Earth Kingdom, but he found that the Navy life wasn't so bad, at least in the short term. He had no doubt riding one of these metal letter openers for more than a few months would quickly lose all novelty.

"Xisheng, our shift is about to start."

Responding to the call to duty from his fellow Fire Nation native, Xisheng quickly concealed his unusual features behind the standard skull patterned helmet of a Firebending soldier, turning to face his comrade at the door of the armory, equipped in a similar fashion. Today, it was their turn to guard Admiral Zhao and his consultant for the siege, General Iroh. While it was difficult to imagine there being any threat to the two men, today of all days was the one were they needed to be on their guard. In but a few hours they would be on the Northern Water Tribe's doorstep. If there was going to be any danger, it would be today.

With that in mind, Xisheng simply nodded to his partner for the day and followed her out of the armory. The inclusion of women in the active military was more or less unique to the Fire Nation: just one of their many ideals they aimed to spread to the rest of the world, if only they could wrap up this war and begin with the evolution of global society.

The fact that the war had dragged on for over a hundred years was frustrating for any member of Fire Nation society, but it was downright infuriating for people like Xisheng that still remembered they were fighting for something more than military victory. Even worse was the fact that the only places that still needed to be conquered were the capitals of their opposition. The few Earth Kingdom cities that had escaped occupation thus far were either of little consequence or could be taken at any time. Aside from the North Pole, Ba Sing Se was the only real challenge still remaining thanks to its sheer size and defensive scope. Still, Xisheng had little doubt that their invulnerability wouldn't last much longer. If the Fire Nation's newest weapons couldn't bring down the walls, Sozin's Comet would handle the problem before the year's end.

Of course, even that once guaranteed outcome was now in question. After the officially 'unintentional' tragedy that was the Air Nomad genocide, the circumstances of which had been lost to nearly everyone by now, no one was sure what had become of the Avatar. He had seemingly dropped off the face of the earth, and had never been reincarnated into the other nations. Or, if he had, he had literally done absolutely nothing to oppose the Fire Nation since the war began. But now, the Avatar had returned, and according to reports, he was nothing other than a young Airbender child, the exact age the Avatar was supposed to be back when Sozin had first searched for him. And of course, considering the fact that the Airbenders had been essentially wiped out as far as anyone knew, it was impossible for the Avatar to have simply gone through the entire cycle and been born into the Air Nomads once again. Somehow, someway, this was the same Avatar that had lived a hundred years ago, and he had not aged a day.

How this was possible was a complete mystery to Xisheng, but honestly it was above his pay grade. Whatever the specific details about the Avatar were, the fact remained that he was quite likely the only person capable of turning the tide of the war at this late stage of the conflict. In fact, the only reason the Fire Nation was launching a massive attack on the North Pole was because they knew the Avatar was there, and they could quite possibly kill two birds with one stone if they could take the city and simultaneously destroy him.

That said, Xisheng did not think it was the absolute best plan. While it was difficult to pinpoint the Avatar's location while he was on the move, surely the best time to strike at the powerful bender was not when he was secluded away in a heavily fortified capital. But Xisheng was just an enlisted soldier, and it was not his job to question the tactics of his superiors. Still, that didn't stop him from doing so quietly as he walked down the steel halls of the Inferno super battleship Admiral Zhao had claimed for his own.

Apparently his brooding was obvious even under his helmet, as his comrade questioned his peculiar behavior. "You seem on edge."

"Can you blame me?"

"Come on, nothing is going to come at the Admiral out here..."

"The Admiral's safety isn't what's bothering me."

"Then what's the problem?"

Xisheng glanced over at his fellow soldier as he walked. "We're about to assault the largest group of Waterbenders in the world, who live in a fortress city made of ice that rests atop an ocean, with ships that must sail on that ocean. Never mind the fact that we're only a night or two away from a full moon, which is the absolute worst time to be attacking the aforementioned target. The Admiral's lust for glory and fame is going to get this armada obliterated."

The woman beside him shrugged. "Well when you put it like that, it _does_ sound like a terrible idea. But we have to attack the Water Tribe sometime and those advantages for them aren't going to just disappear."

"The least we could have done is wait until the full moon passed so we could avoid fighting the Waterbenders at their maximum power. Especially since there's no doubt in my mind that Admiral Zhao will launch a land invasion."

"You don't think we should?"

"We have a massive fleet of warships with siege weapons that can hit the city from far out of bending range. The most reasonable tactic is to simply bombard them into submission from a safe distance. Considering the massive expanse of open water between our fleet and their walls, we'd be able to spot any advancing boats long before they reached us. If we just stayed out of range and used our artillery we'd be essentially invincible."

"We can't make sure we get the Avatar if we don't deploy though..."

Xisheng spread his arms into the air as he walked, a gesture of confusion. "So? The Avatar isn't going anywhere anytime soon. We could still bombard the city first and then go in after him. And even if he fled before we were ready to deploy, it would be impossible to miss him flying away from the city. We have enough ships that we could easily divert part of the armada to pursue him. I'm telling you, someone in command is going to mess this up, and we're going to lose a lot of people. Honestly, I don't even know how Zhao got promoted. Last time I checked he accomplished nothing to warrant the advancement to Admiral. I don't trust his judgment."

"General Iroh is consulting for him. He'll make sure we do this right."

"Oh please, the Dragon of the West? You mean the general that retreated from Ba Sing Se after we finally breached the wall? If not for his cowardice, we could have captured Ba Sing Se by now."

"Come on Xisheng, that's not fair. He didn't have enough troops to take the whole city after the battle at the outer wall."

Xisheng jabbed an accusatory finger at his comrade, as if she were the General himself. "He didn't have to press forward. After breaching the outer wall, all he needed to do was establish a foothold and wait for reinforcements. The Fire Lord would have redeployed plenty of troops if he had known the outer wall was down and we had gotten past the most resilient of the city's defenses. But instead, the General retreated after finally accomplishing the objective, making the sacrifice of every single soldier who died to breach that wall completely and absolutely worthless. We lost thousands of men and women attacking that wall, and they all died for nothing because the General could only accept the casualties until his son was one of them."

His fellow Firebender leveled an incredulous gaze at Xisheng, not that it was obvious behind the mask. "You can't be serious. You're condemning the man for being torn up about the death of his son?"

"I'm just saying, he certainly had no problem with the deaths of thousands of _other_ people's sons and daughters. He was more than willing to sacrifice those lives. Excuse me if the death of his son doesn't evoke any sympathy after he wasted all of those sacrifices his troops made to breach that wall."

With no real retort to that, Xisheng's partner simply shook her head, trying her best to ignore the very good points she had been presented with. Honestly she would rather walk in silence at this point.

Considering the size of the ship, it took several minutes for the two Firebender guards to reach the bridge. When they arrived, they found Admiral Zhao boasting about his plans to General Iroh, with the morning sun just beginning to peak over the horizon.

"I have a plan for dealing with the moon, General Iroh. Trust me, by nightfall tomorrow the Northern Water Tribe will be no more."

Xisheng could tell by the look on Iroh's face that he wasn't nearly as happy about this as Zhao was, but the old man said nothing, providing time for the two guardsmen to announce their presence.

"Admiral."

Zhao looked over his shoulder to glance at the two bowing Firebenders. "What is it, soldier?"

"We're here to guard you and the General, sir. Just in case."

The man with the ridiculous sideburns scoffed. "I fail to see how two Firebenders below my skill could protect me, but I suppose it is what you are being paid for."

With that, Zhao turned away from the faceless soldiers, leaving Iroh to bow to them instead. "Your efforts are appreciated. I for one feel much more comfortable with someone watching my back."

Despite Xisheng's dislike for General Iroh, he had to admit that the man was polite. He could at least credit him for that, though Zhao clearly did not do the same. "Please. You talk as though those Water savages will somehow pose a threat to us."

"Do not underestimate the determination of a desperate people Zhao. From now on, we are on their turf. They will have the advantage, we must not underestimate them."

The female soldier next to Xisheng nudged him with her shoulder while nodding towards Iroh, likely trying to tell him that the old man wasn't nearly as bad as Xisheng made him out to be. Xisheng for one didn't think spouting common sense was reason enough to restore some faith in the retired general, but he certainly couldn't say that out loud.

With the formalities out of the way, Xisheng and his fellow guard began their duties in earnest. Unfortunately, this meant that they did absolutely nothing for several hours. After all, the fleet had still been quite far from their destination. At some point Zhao and his advisor decided to stand on the deck outside the bridge, but all that did was provide a never ending sea of blue to appreciate. Eventually there were some icebergs to look at, but that was hardly anything exciting. The temperature began to drop exponentially the closer they got to their target, but this was no danger to Firebenders that could warm themselves. Xisheng felt bad for the regular soldiers honestly.

The only other thing to do on guard duty was listen to Zhao's incessant boasting about his exploits or ambitions. It was this kind of thing that made Xisheng feel that guards deserved a pay raise. Did command have any idea how maddening it was to listen to the rants of men like these? The fact that such men were put in high command sometimes made Xisheng wonder if they had completely lost sight of their cause. Zhao wanted nothing more than to destroy the Water Tribe, but the purpose of the war called for assimilating them into more advanced society, not wipe them out. The Air Nomads had already been the first mistake, and they weren't supposed to be repeating it. The world Fire Lord Sozin had envisioned did not include the Fire Nation being the only people standing.

Thoughts like these were the only thing a guard could occupy themselves with as the long hours of their duty stretched on. Thankfully, Xisheng was the kind of person who could get lost in thought very easily, and the several hours he stood behind Zhao seemed to pass more quickly than they truly did. On the other hand, this meant he had zoned out for the entire approach to the Northern Water Tribe, and by the time they reached the place he had not spent any time psyching himself up for the battle.

Of course, it wasn't like he was a stranger to combat. The 12th Guard Division had been responsible for holding the line against Earth Kingdom incursions into acquired Fire Nation territory, providing all of its members with plenty of experience. Xisheng had fought and killed Earthbenders before and narrowly escaped death more than once. Still, he had never fought a Waterbender before, and he was slightly concerned about the imminent battle with their direct counterparts.

Even so, as Xisheng glanced up at the sky, he realized that the Navy completely lacked the element of surprise. No one could have missed the giant cloud of smog that signaled the approach of a fleet this size. The Waterbenders being ready for them simply added another disadvantage to the Fire Nation offensive.

That said, Xisheng was rather unimpressed with the sight of the Northern Water Tribe when they reached it. What could be seen of the city was certainly majestic and impressive, but the problem was that any of it could be seen in the first place. The walls protecting the place were too short to thwart a bombardment. The Fire Nation's munitions would sail over them with ease.

Soon enough the entire Fire Nation fleet was holding its position outside the city, dotting the blue sea with over one hundred ships. Most were cruisers and frigates, but almost a fourth were Hell-storm Class Battleships. Without a doubt, this was the largest and most formidable fleet the Fire Nation had ever assembled in one place.

That said, one would think the best tactic would simply be to attack in full force right from the start, but Zhao's first order was unfortunately nothing of the sort.

"Well, I see no reason to rush in blindly. Who knows what kind of dirty tricks those savages might have ready for us? Send out one of the cruisers from the vanguard, have it approach the city."

While the side of caution was usually advisable in any conflict, Xisheng did not see this as a very smart move. Zhao was sending out one ship by itself in plain view of the enemy. That was hardly a scout. In fact, it was pretty much just sending it out to die. Truthfully Xisheng despised men that employed these useless tactics.

Xisheng's distaste for the maneuver was justified when the Avatar flew out on his strange beast to engage the ship following its one launched projectile. It was impossible to tell how the fight was progressing from the distance Zhao's ship was at, but it only took a few minutes for the metal ship to be lifted out of the water by pillars of ice, courtesy of Waterbenders on several smaller vessels. Xisheng took the unnecessary loss of an entire cruiser as a stain on Zhao's strategic ability.

With that lead cruiser disabled, the Avatar was quick to rejoin his flying steak and approach other ships further back in the fleet. He had almost no opposition other than the deck crews on two other ships as he disabled all of their weaponry.

It didn't seem like Zhao had any intention of doing something to fix this situation, instead focusing on the bombardment that the Waterbenders were actually attempting to intercept at this point. Glancing down at the deck of the capital ship he stood guard on, Xisheng saw that there were barely any defenders should the Avatar come after them. They could be disabled just as easily as the other ships were.

That said, it wasn't Xisheng's place to give tactical advice to people above his station, but Zhao clearly wasn't fit to make these decisions himself and Iroh, his military consultant, was not properly advising him instead. And while speaking out to a superior officer regarding tactics could very easily get Xisheng demoted or worse, the longer he held his tongue the more of his comrades could die. With that in mind, he spoke up from behind his superior officers even as he bowed to show that he meant no disrespect: even though he did not really respect these men at all.

"Admiral, perhaps we should station some archers and Firebenders on the decks of our ships? It could at least ward off the Avatar..."

The first thing Zhao did was cock an eyebrow at him. Never in his military career had a grunt offered him tactical advice. And while he was not necessarily outraged by this input, he was still slightly offended. Before he could say anything however, Iroh responded instead.

"The Avatar is a powerful Airbender. Arrows and average flames are all but useless against him."

That Iroh, a famous general who was supposed to be a tactical genius, was opposing an idea that was beneficial to their forces, struck Xisheng as very, very wrong. Anyone with tactical experience in commanding armies knew what Xisheng had suggested was the best course of action. It was impossible for Iroh to not know it as well.

"With all due respect General Iroh, the Avatar can only deflect what he knows is coming. One attack he doesn't see is enough to kill or wound him. We'd still be better off attempting to shoot him down instead of waiting for him to jump from ship to ship destroying all of our weapons."

The Dragon of the West frowned at the soldier behind him, but Zhao actually smirked. "The soldier makes a fair point, General. In fact, I find it strange that he suggested this before you did. Surely you aren't _that_ old already?"

Iroh simply scowled for a brief moment before schooling his expression into something more passive. From Xisheng's point of view, it almost seemed like the retired General didn't want them to do their best to attack the Avatar. Probably just assumptions on his part, but it still seemed suspicious.

Either way, Zhao quickly ordered the troops on his own ship to take up defensive positions against the Avatar's aerial assault, and he wasted no time in signalling the other ships to do the same, though it took them some time to interpret and follow through with the orders. Soon enough the sky was filled with scores of arrows or blasts of fire whenever the Avatar drew near, and though the young boy did deflect or dodge practically everything that came his way, he was now so busy defending himself that he didn't have much time to actually attack.

That said, Xisheng's tactic had paid off very well, and even Zhao, hotheaded as he was, could see that. "Well Iroh, it looks the soldier was right. Are you being outsmarted by a common grunt?"

The retired general said nothing, instead looking to the skies as the Avatar retreated from the front-line to escape the significant danger to himself and his bison. With the Avatar off the field for the moment, the few Water Tribe boats that had sailed out from their city quickly retreated before they could be blasted to timber by the trebuchets of the Fire Nation.

That being the case, the Fire Nation armada was free to continue their bombardment throughout the day, blasting away at the ice wall that the Waterbenders kept trying to repair and doing who knew how much damage to the inside of the city. Unfortunately, it was a rather droll experience, since it wasn't a battle so much as an attack on an enemy that failed to resist. Xisheng had nothing to do but watch the sulfur bombs raining on the city for hours on end, and the only time when that became interesting was when a particularly well-aimed bomb smashed into something showy and created a nice explosion for everyone to cheer over.

Xisheng honestly wished he could simply rest. Take a nap or something. But until Admiral Zhao and General Iroh retired for the night, it was his duty to guard them. Thankfully, dusk began to fall soon enough, with a nearly full moon rising over the horizon. It was as Xisheng had feared: with the full moon in effect, the enemy Waterbenders would be at their strongest. Still, even though he realized this, he was surprised to hear the advice Iroh offered to the commander of this siege.

"It's a full moon tonight Admiral Zhao. The Waterbenders will be stronger than ever. We should stop the bombardment for now and resume in the morning. Besides, our men need their rest."

To Xisheng's chagrin, Zhao looked completely ready to agree with his advisor. But it was such terrible advice. Even a common soldier like Xisheng could see that. Why would the strategically renowned Dragon of the West suggest such a thing? Even so, Xisheng didn't think it was a great idea for him to counter the General's advice, at least not for his personal career. But the General's tactics could potentially cost the Navy hundreds of lives. Didn't he have a duty to prevent that from happening?

With that in mind, Xisheng bowed as low as he could go, prompting a concerned look from his female counterpart that probably knew what he was about to do. "Forgive me Admiral..."

Zhao and Iroh both turned to face him, though the Admiral seemed slightly willing to indulge the trooper after his earlier success. "You find some issue with the General's tactic, soldier?"

"I mean no disrespect to the General, but I believe we should continue the bombardment throughout the night."

Zhao cocked an eyebrow at him. "What part of 'they are at their strongest during a full moon' did you not understand?"

Xisheng kept his gaze glued to the steel floor of the ship even as he explained his reasons. "The strength of the enemy in direct combat is irrelevant at this stage of the siege, sir. We won't be fighting them directly, so we'll be in no danger even if we continue to bombard them."

"With the full moon in effect they'll have no problem stopping almost all of our bombs from causing any damage. It's pointless."

"Sir, even if they stop every bomb with ease, they'll still have to stay awake all night to do it. We can weaken the enemy's forces before the land invasion if they're exhausted from a night of bombardment."

If Xisheng had looked up, he may have noticed Iroh glaring at him ever so subtly, even as the old man tried to refute the common soldier's suggestion. "The same will apply for our soldiers. They will be tired too if they must stay up all night, and the trebuchet crews have been working all day as it is."

Not for the first time, Xisheng was somewhat suspicious of Iroh's reasoning. It didn't take a genius to see that he wasn't making the best calls as a military advisor. But why? It was almost like he didn't want the Fire Nation to win.

"Operating the trebuchets is very simple, sir. We can let the gunnery crews rest and train another group of soldiers to use them in ten minutes or less. Crew rotation throughout the night will fatigue the enemy and give our troops an advantage during the land invasion."

Admiral Zhao cocked an eyebrow at the masked soldier before him, but he smirked as well. "Seems to me like you would have been better off becoming an officer than a common grunt, soldier. You make a fair point across the board. We'll continue the bombardment overnight."

Xisheng noticed that General Iroh was glaring daggers at him, but decided to resolutely ignore it as the burning glow of more bombs illuminated the night sky. At this point the spectacle became a lot more entertaining, if only because it looked a lot more like fireworks. Thankfully the troops didn't need their commanders to tell them what to do during the night, so the two men commanding the siege retired soon after Zhao gave his standing orders to continue the bombardment. This meant that Xisheng and his comrade could retire as well, a welcome relief after standing literally all day.

The sound of the trebuchets launching could be heard through the hull of the ship pretty clearly, but rather than keep him awake, it would actually help Xisheng sleep. It was comforting to know that he had improved their odds against the enemy, and without endangering his own career. Maybe he really should have become an officer.

As he removed his gear for the night, Xisheng couldn't help but glance in the mirror the barracks had for ensuring one's uniform was presentable. He made a habit of appreciating what he had before every potential battle, just in case he returned from it with some gruesome deformity. Unfortunately, he didn't have too terribly much to appreciate. Like the majority of Fire Nation natives, jet black hair covered the top of his head. It was definitely outside of military regulations, what with the somewhat shaggy strands that stopped just above his eyebrows. The military only supported long hair if it was in some sort of 'respectable' hairdo. But being a Firebender, Xisheng wore a masked helmet around all of his superiors, and none of his comrades were petty enough to report him.

On the other hand, being born in the colonies where mixing between Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom citizens was common, his genes had forsaken the common amber color of the Fire Nation for a peculiar set of eyes that constantly earned him looks of curiosity from his fellow soldiers.

Heterochromia was pretty rare the world over. Because the four nations had always been so inclusive, the dominant traits in each nation had almost been continuously perpetuated. More then three fourths of the Fire Nation had black hair and amber eyes of various shades. The Earth Kingdom was similar, but with green eyes. Blue eyes were almost strictly found in the Water Tribes, and the Air Nomads, when they had been around, rarely had eyes that were any color besides brown or stone gray.

Xisheng was one of the very, very few people who genetically laughed in the face of these dividing lines. His complete heterochromia had not only made his eyes one unusual color, but two. This wasn't all that surprising considering that his mother had carried this rare mutation as well, but every time Xisheng looked in a mirror and saw his pair of blue and green eyes, he always wondered where the blue had come from. With a Fire Nation father and an Earth Kingdom mother, the blue had seemingly come out of nowhere.

Of course, he supposed it was some facet of genetics that was yet to be understood. The Fire Nation had begun investigating genetics very, very recently. A lot of research was being conducted on similar traits between parents and children, but this early in the research very little was understood. All anyone really knew right now was that nine times out of ten, children acquired the aesthetic traits of their parents. One time out of ten they would have some trait that neither of their parents had, and that was still confusing the scientific community.

Despite their lack of understanding on the matter, Xisheng always often found the vast difference between nations in regards to science telling. While the Fire Nation was constantly working towards the advancement of medicine, culture, and technology, the rest of the world may as well have been studying dirt. The Earth Kingdom probably didn't research anything other than how to throw even bigger rocks at people, and the Water Tribes were probably trying to develop a better way to catch seals or something. It was almost laughable really.

But Xisheng never laughed at the notion because he, unlike many of the Fire Nation supremacists that made up the military these days, knew that conquering these nations was not the end, but mere means to an end. Other soldiers laughed and scoffed and called their enemies savages or fools, but the few that knew of their true noble cause looked on the enemy not with disdain, but with determination. Determination to usher them into a new age of human ingenuity and potential, rather than a world stratified and held back by inhuman forces.

Many soldiers, knowingly or not, had given their lives for this objective. As for Xisheng, he knew that no one wanted to die without a righteous cause. He knew better than anyone that the people they fought to save would not appreciate their efforts for years after the war, likely decades. But when the starving were fed, the homeless sheltered, and the sick cured of their illnesses thanks to the enlightenment of the Fire Nation, they would see that they had been blessed by foreign dominion, not cursed.

These were the kinds of thoughts that ensured Xisheng slept soundly at night, and tonight was no exception, even with a potentially hazardous land invasion the very next morning.

* * *

The sounds of battle drums and war horns in the early morning awoke Xisheng from a peaceful slumber. They weren't the most welcome sounds to wake up to, but they were certainly familiar. While stationed in the Earth Kingdom, he had been awoken by similar instruments many times to fight off a push into their lines.

That said, Xisheng was used to fighting battles with less sleep than was probably healthy, so doing so now was not what bothered him. No, what irked him was that the war drums wouldn't be in use unless they were about to mount a ground assault. As he had anticipated, Zhao was so eager to prove that he was some sort of legend that he couldn't stand waiting for more than a day of bombardment before initiating an assault. The fleet literally had thousands of sulfur bombs in their arsenal. They could have bombarded the Northern Water Tribe for days, probably for a whole week and then some. They had enough bombs to probably turn the entire city into a mound of icy rubble, but that wouldn't be nearly as glorious as a land assault spearheaded by the Admiral himself.

So, as usual, hundreds of men and women would probably die today to satisfy the ego of their commander. It was hardly anything new: years ago some general in the Earth Kingdom theater had planned to use a battalion of completely new recruits for some sort of suicide operation. Rumor was that the now banished prince had objected to the strategy, something that would have boosted him to the height of respect and admiration in the military had he not turned his back on his own words as soon as they were challenged.

Having not even been in the military at the time, Xisheng had of course not been present for the Agni Kai in which Prince Zuko was to defend what he believed in. But word had spread around the Fire Nation quite quickly: the moment Zuko was faced with a fight he did not believe he could win, he crumbled. Suddenly the lives of those recruits didn't matter as much as his own safety, and that brought more shame and dishonor to the boy than literally anything else could have. The civilian population of the country didn't care nearly as much as the military one did, and very few common soldiers still looked on the Prince with any fondness after he made it so abundantly clear that their lives weren't worth defending when the odds were stacked against him.

As for Xisheng, he cut the banished prince some slack. He had been fairly young at the time, and being thrust into combat against the Fire Lord himself would be shocking for anyone. But Zuko had been foolish. He didn't have to win against his father. No one expected that of him, and it wasn't the point. The point was that he would be willing to fight against someone so much more powerful than him not just for his own convictions, but for the people of his nation. When he had essentially surrendered to his foe, he had betrayed both himself and the soldiers who trusted him. How could someone unwilling to fight for their people against impossible odds ever hope to be Fire Lord?

That said, Zuko had been horribly dishonored that day. The Fire Lord had really banished him for his own good more than anything else. If Zuko had stayed in the Fire Nation all these years, everyone would have been reminded of his disgrace whenever they saw him. By keeping him out of the public eye, the Fire Lord had at least made sure that the upper echelon of Fire Nation society would more or less forget about the incident. As for finding the Avatar, while it was a long shot, it was one of the only things the banished prince could do to erase his mistake. After all, great follies required great reparations. Besides, it was the only thing Zuko could really do besides conquer Ba Sing Se single handed that would clear his name.

As for the scar, it did seem harsh to some, but it was not as if the Fire Lord could give his son special treatment just because he was family. Not wounding him in any way at all would have been the same as accepting his cowardice in the face of the enemy, not to mention go against the sacred rules of an Agni Kai. What was the Fire Lord supposed to do, disregard the country's most sacred traditions just because the person in question was his son? That would have made him only marginally better than his cowardly brother.

Besides, being a Firebender himself, Xisheng knew for a fact that the prince's scar was hardly a result of wanton cruelty. If the Fire Lord had wanted only to hurt and shame his son, why exercise enough control to avoid incinerating his eye? Xisheng was fully aware how difficult it was to control the heat of your flames to such an extent that everything around your target was burned, but not the target itself.

If anything, the scar would serve as a reminder to everyone that the prince had come a long way from what he once was when he manged to return. And now that the Avatar was actually back without a doubt, Zuko had a real chance of restoring his honor, his dignity, and the respect of his citizens and soldiers. Even Zhao was on board with the idea: dislike Zuko as he did, there was still no denying that helping him in his quest to capture the Avatar was the best thing for his career. Zhao couldn't really rise any higher in the military than he already had, but if he helped the future Fire Lord achieve his greatest objective, well, the benefits would be astronomical.

That said, maybe Zhao should have tried a little harder to catch the young Airbender a few weeks ago. After all, master marksmen or not, how on earth did he expect the Yu-Yan archers to somehow defeat someone that could control air? It didn't make any sense at all.

Either way, the situation now was what it was. They'd be deploying for a ground assault against the Northern Water Tribe within the next hour. Hopefully the overnight bombardment had worn out the enemy to an extent where they'd be defeated before nightfall. Normally it would be fine if they couldn't destroy the enemy in a single assault, but that only applied when they were killing every enemy they came across. The Fire Nation military had standing orders to capture benders alive if at all possible; while the purpose of this directive was lost on most of the troops that followed it, those who knew what was truly going on understood that the benders of the other nations couldn't be re-assimilated into the new society if they were all dead.

Needless to say this had made the war considerably more difficult for the Fire Nation over the past century. Having to fight with some degree of restraint in order to take the most powerful enemies alive was difficult. Moreover, keeping those benders incarcerated after the fact was expensive, taking both resources and troops. Meanwhile, the Earth Kingdom had not taken a Fire Nation soldier alive in a hundred years. A trek through the Earth Kingdom and a peek into any of their prisons was proof enough that there had never been Fire Nation captives in their borders: colonists and soldiers alike, all were executed by the Earth Kingdom.

Because this no mercy rule was followed by the majority of the Earth Kingdom army, the rules of engagement had changed just slightly about forty years ago. The Fire Lord still wanted benders to be taken alive if possible, but by now there were a significant number of both Earth and Waterbenders in their custody, so if a particular bender seemed too dangerous to risk capturing lethal force was acceptable. On a somewhat more morbid scale, any enemy bender that claimed the lives of one whole squad was to be killed rather than captured. The Fire Nation may have wanted to bring enlightenment to the world, but not at the expense of too many of its own people.

Besides, it was difficult to not want some form of retribution against the enemy for their acts of barbarism. Granted, the Fire Nation had committed genocide a century ago, but the events surrounding that incident were still shrouded in uncertainty. All Xisheng knew was that the idea had supposedly not been to kill them all from the start. Of course, the initial intention didn't justify the wholesale slaughter of an entire race, but at least the Fire Nation had learned from the mistake. They'd yet to do anything nearly so heinous again. They didn't even execute prisoners of war, with the exception of very rare cases.

But still, as infuriating as it was to know that every captured man and woman was executed in front of Earth Kingdom troops for morale, Xisheng had to keep in mind their true purpose. That being the case, he quickly donned his armor for the coming battle, hiding his unique features behind the skull of his helmet and ensuring that his armor was strapped snugly to his frame.

As soon as he was prepared for battle, Xisheng made his way to the deck of the ship. Unfortunately it was still his duty to guard Admiral Zhao, so unless the man had different orders for him, Xisheng would be spending this battle escorting the foolhardy commander, something that didn't bode well for a soldier interested in staying alive.

Even so, it was comforting to walk the deck of the ship, as it allowed Xisheng to witness the fleet's ground forces as they prepared to attack the Northern Water Tribe. Xisheng had of course never been part of a naval assault before; he would have assumed that landing craft were necessary, but apparently the plan was to simply ram the battleships into the wall and drop the ramp, allowing the Fire Nation's troops to storm into the city en masse. It was certainly a good approach, and one that couldn't be performed without the technology of the Fire Nation.

Xisheng glanced down at scores of infantry, bender and non-bender alike, alongside tanks and Komodo rhinos. Naturally the armored vehicles were in front, protecting the more vulnerable soldiers that would storm in behind them. Just on this ship alone, there had to be a thousand troops ready to assault the enemy. Of course, it was twice as large as even the second largest class of vessel present.

Turning his attention away from the ranks of soldiers below and towards the command deck of the ship, Xisheng spotted Admiral Zhao and a handful of other Firebenders that would be his guards. Naturally the Admiral didn't even notice Xisheng's arrival, but the common soldier had expected no less. Thankfully, it seemed that Xisheng's input would not be needed this time, as Admiral Zhao or his advisor General Iroh had organized the assault in a tactically sound manner this time.

The first wave of ground troops would have their advance covered by a barrage from the waves behind them. With that cover they'd have little fear of enemy attacks while they moved forward and destroyed whatever secondary defenses were in place.

Xisheng was about to come and stand behind the Admiral, but not before he heard the door to the command deck behind him burst open. "Admiral Choi! Prepare to meet your fate!"

Xisheng and every other guard quickly turned on their heels to see a Water Tribe boy with dark hair rushing at the Admiral with a spear and an outdated uniform. Aside from the appalling breach of security, Xisheng wondered how this warrior had possibly managed to remain undetected on their ship. Either way, being the last guard to arrive Xisheng was closest to the infiltrator, who was ignoring everyone else in favor of charging right at the Admiral. Clearly he was no experienced soldier.

Taking advantage of the boy's complete and total lack of self-awareness, Xisheng stepped into the boy's path, fists raised to strike a killing blow. The Water Tribe native looked genuinely surprised that someone was actually going to intercept him, and he didn't seem all that interested in being diverted from his task of killing Zhao. The haphazard swing of his spear was evidence enough that he considered Xisheng a nuisance in his path to success.

Unfortunately, the difference in battle experience was immediately obvious. Xisheng sidestepped the spear tip, grabbing both the shaft and the boy's collar as he passed. With a considerable advantage in leverage, the Fire Nation soldier hurled the lanky Northerner back the way he had come, sending him tumbling across the deck. With a somewhat clumsy recovery roll, Xisheng's opponent got to his feet, with a smirk on his face that indicated he was about to spout some sort of bravado. However, the expression was quickly wiped away when the tip of his own spear tore into his unarmored abdomen, hurled from Xisheng's hands.

Falling to his knees, the infiltrator reeled in obvious shock, unable to utter any sort of pained cry as his blood stained the old uniform he was wearing. Well aware that his death would be slow and painful at this rate, Xisheng took the few steps necessary to reach his dying victim, opting to finish him off mercifully rather than with the even more painful demise that was Firebending. Grabbing hold of the spear's shaft, Xisheng yanked it out of his foe's abdomen, only to swiftly stab him through the neck instead. Gruesome, perhaps, but by severing the spinal cord Xisheng ensured his foe would feel no more pain as he passed.

When the deed was done, two of the other guards lifted the body over the edge and into the water, at which point Xisheng noticed the mixed looks he was getting from his two superiors. Zhao for one looked impressed by the swift reaction to a potential threat and ruthlessness in dealing with it, but Iroh looked disappointed and even appalled. Xisheng couldn't imagine why: he had been protecting the retired general as well.

By now the assault was well under way, with the first wave of Fire Navy ships having already deployed their troops onto the enemy's shores under the cover of dozens of sulfur bombs. But while Xisheng was occupied with trying to witness the battle, he couldn't help but overhear Admiral Zhao's conversation with the Dragon of the West, which had something to do with the Moon Spirit, and more importantly, something to do with destroying it. This was something Xisheng was none too happy to hear.

While astronomy was just as relatively fresh in Fire Nation science as genetics was, by now the leading minds of the country knew that the Moon was important for a reason beyond nighttime luminosity. Preliminary studies had shown that the size of the Moon, as well as its location around the Earth, affected the tides of the oceans. This seemed to corroborate with what everyone knew about the Moon and Waterbending, so anyone who knew these things would also know that having no Moon would be very, very bad.

That said, perhaps it was fortunate that Xisheng would be on escort duty for Zhao after all. If the Admiral was going to do anything insane... well, he was just a faceless soldier. All he had to do was escape immediate retribution and he could easily disappear back into the ranks. Of course, being a loyal citizen of his country, committing essential treason really didn't sit well with Xisheng, but he was willing to toe the thin line of allegiance to better serve the final objective. Not that he would ever truly betray the Fire Nation of course: he was supremely dedicated to their true cause.

Thinking about it made Xisheng eager to join the battle. After all, winning it was just one step closer to realizing their final goal. Thankfully Zhao seemed eager to get involved as well, though for his own glory no doubt. Either way, he ushered his flagship forward, and soon enough the golden beast that made up their prow smashed through what was left of the Northern Water Tribe's ice wall, and the thousand strong army of troops on the main deck rushed out onto the battlefield.

Naturally the Admiral's retinue had to descend from the command deck first, at which point Xisheng discovered that they would be taking Komodo rhinos to their destination, wherever it may be. Apparently Zhao had a map, something Xisheng couldn't make sense of if he had truly discovered it in the Earth Kingdom as he had claimed when talking with Iroh. But while that raised a fair number of very good questions, Xisheng had no time to dwell on them, as he and his fellow Firebenders were thrust into battle.

Being on the front-line allowed Xisheng to see the results of his tactics yesterday firsthand: the Fire Nation line was rapidly demolishing all resistance ahead of it. Even powered by the sun, their swift advance could not be accredited to that alone. The enemy was tired, as they should have been considering the dozens of sulfur bombs frozen in pillars of ice around the field of battle. The Waterbenders had spent most of their night intercepting the projectiles, and now they were paying the price for their fatigue.

Even so, it was difficult fighting Waterbenders on a battlefield comprised entirely of their element. Even tired as they were, Xisheng saw many Fire Nation soldiers fall prey to Waterbending attacks from unexpected directions. Some of them found their heads suddenly submerged beneath the icy floor of the city, doomed to drown unless their allies could break the ice and draw them out in time. Others were impaled by spears of ice shot from angles unseen, while even more found themselves cleaved in two by powerful Waterbending slices.

It was a different kind of violence than Xisheng was used to, as he had only ever faced Earthbenders in combat. However, he was familiar with the attacks of the Fire Nation, and while he did not relish in killing, he could not deny that he was glad to see the enemy burned to a screaming crisp or blasted apart by a concussive blast after they killed his comrades. Xisheng himself killed quite a few Waterbenders from the back of his rhino. One was simply set alight by a large blast of flame. Another found his leg separated from his body in a bloody mess when the concussive force of a charged Firebending explosion impacted the ice next to him. These were the kinds of injuries and deaths Xisheng was used to seeing.

Considering the fact that they had landed significantly later than the initial force, there was not much fighting to really be done for the Admiral's retinue, especially once you considered the fact that Zhao was spurring them past the conflict itself and towards his personal objective. It was during this time that Xisheng noticed a distinct lack of one General Iroh, who had been present when they had first disembarked from the ship. The man's absence made Xisheng uneasy, but Zhao did not seem to care or even notice that he was missing.

Thanks to the fatigue the Water Tribe's forces were experiencing, the armies of the Fire Nation advanced throughout the majority of the city well before nightfall. By early evening, they had pushed the enemy forces back to their final line of defense, the palace itself. Granted, it wasn't much of a palace, but it was a royal building of some sort, and according to Zhao it was where the Moon spirit rested.

Naturally the remaining Water Tribe forces had holed up inside this building, along with the civilian population that had been taking refuge there since the start of the engagement. Needless to say, the battle was essentially won, as the Fire Nation could not possibly lose now, but there was still one wild card to take into consideration. No one had seen the Avatar on the field of battle that day, but surely he was still present. Even now, it was possible that the Avatar could turn the tide.

But from what the Fire Nation had seen of the Avatar so far, he was little more than a coward. Even in situations where he could have easily defeated his enemies, he instead chose to flee. He was an Airbender at heart, avoiding confrontation if at all possible and preferring to dodge trouble rather than face it. If they were lucky the Avatar would simply flee this battle as well.

They would soon see what the boy would do, as the Fire Nation could hardly occupy the city overnight with the Moon on its way. They had a few hours of daylight left in which to win the battle, and for Zhao to achieve his 'destiny.' That being the case, the invading army took positions to assault the final line of defense, which was unfortunately approachable from only one direction. The seat of power here in the Water Tribe was elevated above the rest of the city. It was surrounded by water on all sides, and the only way to reach it was a staircase and a bridge that led to the front door. The only choice for the invaders was to move along this rather narrow path made of ice, putting them at a massive disadvantage against their Waterbending foes.

Thankfully the solution was fairly straightforward. The enemy would be too busy taking cover from a bombardment to actively attack the advancing ground troops if the rear Fire Nation lines kept up a steady assault. With this tactic in mind, Zhao ordered the tanks and rhinos to stay in the rear and attack the palace from afar as he led the infantry across the bridge.

Xisheng was worried that the enemy would still manage to collapse the bridge as they traversed it, but as he followed his commander to the front door with several dozen troops at his back, it became obvious that the enemy was more concerned with surviving the concentrated attacks pelting their fortress and less with stopping the troops coming to kick down their front door.

Xisheng watched as Admiral Zhao blasted the barrier before them into nothingness, clearing the way for his troops to enter the palace. "You know how it goes men; take prisoners. The Fire Lord frowns on civilian casualties, and get the leader alive if possible. Charge!"

Considering the fact that these reminders were completely unnecessary, the forces of the Fire Nation wasted no time in rushing through the breach and into the last line of defense for the Northern Water Tribe. Naturally, what warriors remained of the enemy rushed forward to meet them, protecting their people from what they no doubt believed to be genocide or some other such nonsense.

As for the Admiral's retinue, they followed the man himself through the now embattled palace, fending off what few warriors were brave or foolish enough to challenge them as Zhao ignored the conflict in favor of his true objective. It briefly occurred to Xisheng that the map they were using was very detailed, leading him to question its origins, but it nevertheless proved accurate. Zhao led his guards outside of the main palace and towards a back pathway that eventually brought the group of military men and women to a small circular door in a wall. It looked like nothing of note to the majority of the guards, but Zhao was grinning like a madman at the sight of it.

"We're here. Give thanks men, for today you get to witness the birth of a legend!"

Zhao led the way into the abode they had discovered, where Xisheng and his fellow Firebenders were met with a truly astonishing sight: grass, trees, and warm temperatures throughout the area, something that should have been completely impossible in the North Pole. One of the soldiers commented on exactly this.

"How is it so warm here? This doesn't seem possible."

Xisheng, being somewhat knowledgeable on these affairs, made an assumption. "If this is truly where the spirits reside, it must be their doing. Ironic, that they have the power to do such things yet the Tribe that worships them still lives in a frozen wasteland."

Zhao ignored the conversation his minions were having in favor of walking towards a pool in the center of the grove. Once there, he wasted no time in snatching up one of the Koi fish that swam around inside and stuffing it into a bag. If this was supposed to do something, no one could tell, because the Moon had not yet risen on this side of the Earth. It was still a short time away yet. This naturally didn't stop Zhao from descending into some sort of mad rant regarding the glory he would receive and all of the wonderful titles that would be bestowed upon him for his victory.

Xisheng was worried what Zhao's actions here would do to the world, but as he could not tell what kind of effect it was having without the Moon present, he made no move to stop the Admiral. Acting too hastily could cost the Fire Nation in more ways than one. However, it was clear that the situation was about to get a lot more intense when a large shadow passed over the grove, and the soldiers of the Fire Nation glanced up to see the Avatar's flying beast descending towards them. It did not take long for it to land, or for its passengers to hop down to the earth to confront them.

This presented a very notable problem: child or not, the Avatar was a powerful Airbender and had proven himself to be a match for superior numbers more than once already. While confident in his own abilities, Xisheng had no delusions regarding how a fight against this child would likely go. Still, he wasn't about to cower or flee now. He'd fight the Avatar to the death if he had to.

Thankfully it seemed that there would be no need, as Zhao was quick to threaten the fish he was holding when he saw that he faced the Avatar, and this was enough to keep the child and his Water Tribe allies at bay.

Naturally, the Avatar gave some spiel about preserving balance and not disrupting the natural order of things, but it was nothing but idealistic tripe in the ears of the soldiers that heard it. Yes, Xisheng understood that destroying the moon was probably bad, but he had come to loathe the foolish trappings of balance for the stratification it brought upon the world.

No, what the Avatar said was just noise. It was the words of who came next that were truly surprising.

"He's right Zhao."

Zhao and his retinue all turned to face Iroh, who had appeared from the shadows to their right. Before all else, this raised far too many questions for Xisheng. How long had he been there? How did he find this place? Had he arrived before them and simply been waiting for the right time to act? There were too many factors that didn't add up properly. Something wasn't right here, beyond the obvious that even Zhao saw.

"General Iroh. Why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?"

"I'm no traitor Zhao. The Fire Nation needs the Moon too. We all depend on the balance."

There it was. The obvious sign of someone that did not share the righteous cause. Iroh believed in balance. He believed in what the Avatar stood for. Xisheng had half a mind to attack the old man where he stood, as he understood better than anyone that Iroh truly was a traitor to their cause, but before he could make any move at all, the world was bathed in crimson light. The Moon was rising.

Most of the people in the grove gasped at the sight above them, of a blood red moon likely caused by the strife Zhao was causing the now mortal Moon spirit. As expected, destroying the Moon was a terrible idea, but this and that were two different things, and preserving a critical celestial body versus maintaining arbitrary lines of division in society had nothing to do with one another. With this in mind, Xisheng began formulating a plan that would prevent the destruction of the Moon and still maintain his loyalty to the Fire Nation. Thankfully Iroh's next words made his planning much easier.

"You can now see what chaos you are unleashing upon the world Zhao! Whatever you do to that spirit, I'll unleash on you tenfold! Let it go, now!"

With that, Iroh took a Firebending stance, and was more or less threatening Zhao, an Admiral of the Fire Nation Navy. Yes, this situation would work out nicely if only Zhao would heed Iroh's threat for just one moment...

Thankfully Zhao did just that, releasing the captured Moon spirit back into the pool. As he did this, the moonlight that now bathed the world returned to normal. However, Zhao's tensed and twitching muscles spoke volumes of his anger and rage, and anyone with half a brain could see that he was about to do something crazy. Xisheng watched as Zhao raised an arm into the air to unleash a Firebending blast at the pool and the mortal spirits, and that was his opportunity to strike. Everyone was looking at Zhao: no one was looking at Iroh, and no one could confirm or deny whether or not the traitor general was about to attack the Admiral.

"Admiral, look out!"

With that cry, Xisheng threw a punch that sent a Firebending blast towards Iroh, cutting off Zhao's assault on the Koi fish. Naturally Zhao and the other soldiers assumed that Iroh had been about to attack, and Xisheng's fellow guards turned on Iroh as well even as the old man deflected the surprise attack that had come his way.

With multiple soldiers now launching attacks at him, Iroh had no choice but to defend himself, though this ended up being child's play for the old man. He intercepted all five plumes of flame with one large blast of his own, then simply forced that blast outwards to engulf his attackers. Zhao's retinue, save Xisheng, had been incapacitated with almost laughable ease. If anything, it was a testament to the massive gap in skill between an average bender and a master.

Now only Xisheng and Zhao still stood, though the latter was turning tail to flee into the foliage of the grove. "Kill that traitor soldier! Don't you dare abandon your post!"

Xisheng felt a modicum of disgust as he watched Zhao flee, but he nevertheless took a stance against Iroh, who had lowered his arms the moment Zhao disappeared. The old man actually seemed pleased. "That was quite clever of you, soldier. But you've protected the Moon and Zhao is gone. Why do you still stand ready to fight?"

Digging his heels into the ground and taking deep breathes, Xisheng knew that he would likely not be able to defeat a legendary Firebender like the Dragon of the West, but he was still ready to try regardless. "Don't mistake my intent. I always knew you were a coward, but now you've proven yourself to be an outright traitor. I won't just let you walk away."

Iroh cocked a curious eyebrow at his opponent, seemingly unfazed by the insults. "You are loyal to the Fire Nation yet have protected the balance of the world. You do realize that these are conflicting ideologies?"

"The natural balance of the world is a concept I support. The balance of society is a construct of human thought, and one I wholeheartedly oppose. The world needs unity, not separation. As a member of the royal family, surely you know of our true cause?"

The Dragon of the West raised his arms in a combat stance. "I know that it is presumptions to assume the right to rule others simply to solve their problems."

"And yet you support the Avatar, who embodies that idea more than anyone else. Look 'General', we both know neither of us is going to change our beliefs at the drop of a hat. Let's just fight."

Iroh released a defeated sigh as he prepared for Xisheng's attack. "As you wish. By all means, please make the first move."

While Iroh's politeness had struck Xisheng as nothing more than that before, now it infuriated him. Not only had this man invalidated the deaths of every soldier at the Siege of Ba Sing Se, but now he was betraying the very thing they had all given their lives for. Xisheng did not particularly enjoy violence, but he was not without fury of his own.

"Your men and your son will thank me for avenging the sacrifice you wasted and betrayed, Iroh. This is for them!"

Surprisingly, Xisheng's attempt to goad his seemingly unflappable opponent actually worked; to be fair though, he was bringing up his fallen son.

Iroh punched forth a powerful gout of flame that Xisheng chose to evade rather than block. In his experience it was always safer to evade if you could manage it. Sidestepping the attack, he retaliated with a bending punch of his own, though Iroh simply powered through it and unleashed a wave of flame along the ground, forcing Xisheng into the air and exposing him to an unavoidable follow up attack.

Xisheng was met with a fireball the moment his feet left the earth, knocking him backwards but not stopping him from performing an almost flawless recovery upon landing. Rolling with the impact to get to his feet as quickly as possible, the somewhat experienced soldier released two spirals of flame with spin kicks at head and ground level, then followed up with two punches in the middle that covered all the bases. Being a little too old to be dodging such wide ranging attacks with any real spryness, Iroh simply lived up to his moniker and breathed fire from his mouth to match and overpower Xisheng's attacks. While it was an impressive display of force, large Firebending attacks had a major downside: they blocked the user's view of the enemy.

Taking advantage of Iroh's technical blindness, Xisheng rushed through the wavering flames, protected by armor that had long since been developed to resist Firebending for training or potentially dangerous moves. Forming a blade of fire in his hand, he rushed through Iroh's attack and swung the flaming extension of his arm at him from the ground to the sky. With enough power an attack like this could cleave a man in two, but Iroh was quick enough to more or less stumble backwards out of its way.

But a stumble was still a folly in a duel, and it gave Xisheng enough time to leap in the air with a flaming axe kick, one of the most powerful melee Firebending moves there was. Unfortunately, he underestimated Iroh's skill and power, and though the old man only had time to raise his arms in defense, earning himself several severe burns on his arms, he nevertheless weathered Xisheng's attack, allowing him to counter with a powerful condensed blast of flame that smashed into Xisheng's chest and sent him careening through the air.

Though he had not yet lost consciousness, Xisheng knew that the battle was over as he smashed into the grassy earth of the grove. And while his ears were still ringing, he managed to hear just a bit of Iroh's words to the Avatar and his friends.

"This battle is lost...must flee... fight another day..."

It was all Xisheng managed to hear before he slipped into unconsciousness, but he nevertheless could settle on one thought in his mind as he did so. There was no question that the once esteemed General Iroh was a full-blown traitor to his country and everyone that had trusted him. No question at all.

* * *

When Xisheng awoke from his forced nap, he was met with the familiar unchanging countenance of a Fire Nation soldier. While the helmets were great for intimidating the enemy, they certainly weren't something anyone was eager to wake up to...

"Admiral, the Corporal is waking up."

Xisheng barely had time to get to his feet before Zhao was in his face. "You! What happened?! Where is General Iroh?!"

More than a little irritated that the Admiral was snapping at him even though he was the one that had fled, Xisheng nevertheless kept his displeasure under wraps. "I was no match for the Dragon of the West Admiral. He rendered me unconscious with ease. He could be anywhere, but it was obvious that he was assisting the Avatar."

"You let him escape?! You incompetent moron! What kind of soldier are you?! Even the Moon spirit is nowhere to be found!"

Xisheng glanced around the oasis, now teeming with Fire Nation troops. One glance in the pool was enough to tell him that Zhao spoke the truth. It was no surprise really considering that the spirits couldn't stay here now that it was under Fire Nation control, but even so Xisheng was surprised that the spirits were allowed to leave this oasis at all. Perhaps they didn't even need to be in a special place?

Either way, Zhao was apparently still furious that Xisheng had allowed the traitor Iroh to escape, and the soldier wasn't having any of that. "With all due respect Admiral, the General is a legendary Firebender. Surely you didn't expect a simple soldier to best him?"

"I expected you to do your job! Now the spirits are gone and we have a traitor on the loose! Moreover, he took Prince Zuko with him! We've got no idea if he's in league with the old man or if he's just being strung along as insurance! You could have prevented all of this if you weren't so incompetent!"

Xisheng was about to make some snarky comment about the Admiral fleeing the scene of the battle, but thankfully another soldier cut in before he could ruin his career. "Admiral, Corporal Xisheng fought with honor and skill. I was incapacitated by the traitor general in seconds, but the Corporal even managed to wound him. I was barely conscious for the fight, but he did his best to defeat the enemy."

Admiral Zhao scoffed. "Well let me know when trying and failing actually wins the war. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to finish subjugating this pathetic excuse of a country!"

With that, Admiral Zhao turned on his heel and stormed away from the soldiers that had been his escort during this fiasco. Needless to say, Xisheng's dislike for the man multiplied tenfold, but he was simply glad that they had emerged from this battle more or less victorious. While the Avatar had escaped and a powerful Firebender had betrayed them, the Northern Water Tribe was subdued, and that brought the Fire Nation one step closer to realizing their final objective.

The soldier that had come to Xisheng's defense grabbed him by the shoulder before he could go anywhere. "Corporal. I meant what I said a second ago. You're a very skilled warrior. Few soldiers could have put up a fight as effectively as you did."

Xisheng shrugged off the praise, not feeling worthy of it. "I still lost though. Fighting well and winning are two very different things."

"Maybe. But that's not the point. You fought against a superior opponent knowing you were almost guaranteed to be defeated, and still did very well against him besides. A Firebender with your talents should be putting his skills and guts to use elsewhere."

"I can't think of any better place to employ those things than on the front line."

The faceless soldier shook his head. "We both know that there will be few major offensives after this point, at least until the comet arrives this summer. With the Dragon of the West turning traitor and the questionable loyalties of Prince Zuko, I get the feeling a lot more Royal Guards are going to be needed in the coming months..."

Xisheng had never thought of being selected for such an honor before. Then again, he had never wanted to be, since Royal Guards did nothing when the royal family was sitting around in the palace all day. But it was true that leaving Iroh on the loose would be catastrophic for the Fire Nation, and it was about time that the Crown Princess had a chance to prove herself to the people... it was all conjecture at best, but it did seem likely that elite Royal Guards would be seeing some action sooner than later.

"You think I have the skills to be a Royal Guard?"

"Moreso than the rest of us at any rate. I'm just a Captain, but I think it's about time someone put you in for a promotion. Who knows? Maybe when the Fire Lord reads the reports of this conflict, he'll see that you have the potential to serve the Fire Nation in a much greater fashion. I doubt the Admiral will even mention us, but you can rest assured that as Captain of his escort during this mission, your exploits will be fully noted."

Xisheng bowed to the man. "Good enough for me Captain. But while this is all well and good, I imagine our assistance is needed in managing the city now that it is under our control."

"Fair enough."

The Captain led the way out of the oasis, presumably to bring Xisheng and some other soldiers into the city to help establish order. While it was a short trek, it gave Xisheng time to think about what the future could hold if he really was promoted to a position in which he could guard the Princess and all those she called her allies.

* * *

 **Well, for anyone re-reading this, its obvious that the intro was the biggest change, though there was a lot of smaller details that got altered throughout the whole chapter. That said, you'll notice that our Professor from the future never stated who emerged victorious in the war. Though, if you have an eye for detail, you might notice a particular implication in his dissertation. I'm curious how many people will actually catch it.  
**


	2. An Exercise in Futility

**Well, if you're still here after the first chapter, I can assume you are men and women of culture. Don't get me wrong, I love AtLA, but it did suffer from the major flaw of narrow storytelling; the 'heroes' were always in the right and the 'villains' were objectively evil, never mind the fact that they were evil 'just for evil's sake.' I get that it was aimed at a younger audience, so the writers couldn't go too deep into moral subjectivity, but still, kinda leaves a sour taste in my mouth when the heroes commit a lot of the same actions they condemn, but it's alright because they're the protagonists.  
**

* * *

The domestic operations that followed in the two weeks after the battle at the North Pole were far more stressful than anyone cared to admit. The North Pole marked the first capital city the Fire Nation had conquered during the war, and with it came numerous logistical problems that were difficult to manage. First and foremost among these was actually subjugating resistance. Despite a total military victory over the city, small bands of warriors and Waterbenders that had not been captured were still striking out at the newly established Fire Nation patrols and occupation forces.

Needless to say this had lead to more than one skirmish, with numerous casualties for both sides. Thankfully this city was the only major settlement the Northern Water Tribe possessed; all of their other settlements were so scattered and small that meeting any resistance from them was extremely unlikely. It made it easier for the Fire Nation to focus its manpower if nothing else. Even so, it was difficult to establish order and implement recovery when you had to constantly watch your back for icicle spears or worse.

The state of affairs was a tentative one. Obviously none of the natives were happy about being conquered and occupied, but aside from the most stringent and bitter of them, most of the city's inhabitants had already realized that their conceptions about Fire Nation dominion were mistaken. After all, the city was still standing, no one had been executed, and none of them had been dragged off in chains to slave away in some faraway mine. Of course, Xisheng knew that many rumors spread during wartime that were essentially straight up lies: one of the most ridiculous that he had heard was that the Fire Nation dressed their prisoners in Army uniforms and pit them against their own comrades unarmed. Aside from all of the particular reasons such a tactic would backfire horrifically, it was a practice the Fire Nation had never employed. They took many prisoners, but certainly not for reasons such as that.

Of course he also knew that not everything he had heard about the Water Tribes and Earth Kingdom was true as well. While the Fire Nation didn't rely on propaganda for morale nearly as much as their enemies (they were winning, after all), Xisheng had still heard a rumor or two that had turned out to be false. The city he currently occupied was proof enough that the concept of savagery and barbarism was as foreign to the Northern Water Tribe as it was to the Fire Nation. While they were lacking in many aspects culturally and scientifically, it was not like they were living in caves and inbreeding. They had their own culture, and while it had some growing to do, it deserved to be treated as such.

Thankfully, one of their objectives was already coming to fruition. While it was little more than eavesdropping and a general atmosphere, considering the tight lipped nature of the Water Tribesman around their conquerors, it was fairly obvious that they were disgruntled with their dear moon spirit for failing to protect them, or otherwise do anything to really help them at all. Of course there were still many individuals that were praying to the stupid fish for salvation or simply out of misguided faith, but there seemed to be a good number of people that now shunned those spirits for abandoning them.

This realization lifted Xisheng's spirits a great deal. If there was one thing that had been proven without a doubt thanks to the Fire Nation's conquest, it was that the spirits of this world were useless leeches that did nothing for the ones who revered them. In the past hundred years of expansion into EK territory, not once had they been opposed by a spirit. Not even in areas where spirits had actually been sighted.

In the larger scheme of things, reliance on spirits to solve problems was hindering human progress. After all, if you truly believed some sort of spirit would handle all of your problems, what ambition did you have to advance your own standing? To innovate and grow? Many of the Fire Nation's academic minds attributed their massive technological advancement to the shift in spirit worship a hundred years ago. Maybe they were biased, but it couldn't be denied that the Fire Nation had advanced by leaps and bounds after the abolition of spirit worship.

Either way, there was a lot more to be done here at the North Pole. The current combats with the few renegade fighters in the city were unacceptable, mostly because they hindered the Fire Nation's efforts to implement their revolution. For that very reason, Captain Chikaraishi, with Xisheng and another guard at his flanks, stood before the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe within her private quarters to discuss the matter. Under normal circumstances this issue would have been brought to the Chieftain, but the man had been killed in the final assault on the palace. He had been a warrior through and through, fighting alongside his men in the final reckoning. Xisheng respected him for that, but he imagined that his daughter felt quite differently about the whole ordeal. After all, she did not seem to be in an extremely cooperative mood.

"Princess, surely you understand the severity of the situation. The remnant fighters in your city are inflicting casualties on both sides. As their leader, it is your duty to order them to stand down."

The white haired teenager, thrust into a position of power she was not ready for, looked ill at ease with the entire situation. However, she was still firm in her reply. She had guts, even if she wasn't fully confident in what she was doing.

"You expect me to tell my people to simply surrender to you after you invaded our home and killed our people? How dare you!"

Captain Chikaraishi, the man who had spoken so highly of Xisheng after the battle and his duel with Iroh, sighed. "The battle is already lost Princess. Further fighting will change nothing. It will only cost both your people and mine dozens of lives."

"I will not order my people to give up. You are invaders and murderers. Even defeated we'll never give into you."

The Captain sighed again, seeing that his efforts were fruitless. He motioned for his two comrades to follow him out of the Princess' private chamber. The Princess herself was not being imprisoned, at least not in a traditional sense. She was allowed to go wherever she pleased within her city, but she was always escorted by two Firebenders. She'd been treated very well for a defeated royal.

Stepping out of the room with his immediate commander, Xisheng watched as the Captain pulled off his helmet and pinched the bridge of his nose. His short black hair would have normally been slicked to his head by sweat, but that was not the case with the temperature around here taken into account. "I fail to see how this is my job instead of the Admiral's..."

For the record, Xisheng felt exactly the same way. Zhao had done very little after the battle itself. He had mostly relegated all of the important tasks to his subordinates. It was just one thing Xisheng had found to dislike about the man among many others.

"Captain, if it's alright with you, I could try to speak to the Princess."

Chikaraishi turned towards the soldier he had come to respect greatly over the past two weeks. "You have something particular in mind that might convince her Xisheng?"

"Nothing in particular sir. But who knows? She might be more responsive to a common soldier closer to her age."

The Captain merely shrugged. "Worth a shot at this point. Any chance we have at putting an end to these pointless skirmishes is good enough for me. Have at it Corporal."

Bowing to his superior officer, Xisheng turned to head back into the Princess' room. Naturally the white-haired teen couldn't tell him apart from the Captain, so she seemed especially irked that he was in there. "Was our last exchange unclear Captain? I will not-"

Xisheng cut her off, convinced that protocol and diplomacy would have to be surrendered for a more blunt approach if he was to achieve his goal. "I'm not the Captain, Princess. My name is Xisheng. I'm a Corporal."

Yue looked intrigued by the presence of an enlisted soldier to appeal to her rather than an officer, but she still did not seem any more cooperative than before. "I assure you the rank of the soldier that comes to me will not change my decision."

Seeking to gain a more human approach, Xisheng removed his helmet, leveling his dual colored gaze at the girl just a year or two younger than him. The look on her face proved she was actually shocked by the revelation that there was an actual human being under the helmet. Xisheng supposed he couldn't blame her; it was difficult to humanize the enemy, especially when they didn't even show their face.

"I am going to be straightforward with you Princess Yue. I admire your resilience and your courage. But you are making a foolish mistake."

Whatever her initial impression of him had been, Yue's expression hardened at Xisheng's words. "Nothing would be more foolish than to give in to your tyranny."

Xisheng cocked a curious eyebrow at her. "Our tyranny? If I may be so bold Princess, may I ask what tyranny you are referring to? Perhaps you mean the freedom we are allowing you to keep despite being a political prisoner? Or perhaps you are referring to the citizens of your city, which we have neither harmed nor mistreated after the battle?"

The snow haired girl glared at him. "You monsters killed my father!"

"And he killed many of our soldiers. Your father took sons and daughters from their families. That is the nature of war, and it is unavoidable. But what you are doing now will inflict pain on families that is not necessary."

The mention of daughters and sons gave Yue pause, though it certainly did not divert her anger. Still, her silence gave Xisheng a chance to continue. "The Fire Nation did not come here to simply obliterate your city and its people. Our intention is not to start massacring your citizens in the streets now that the battle is over. But make no mistake: we will not stand idly by and allow resistance fighters to continue attacking and killing our soldiers. If these skirmishes do not stop soon, measures will be taken to root out your resistance and eliminate them. We will kill them all to protect our citizens and soldiers if we must. But you are their leader now. You can put an end to these conflicts before we must take drastic measures to rectify them."

Yue fell silent as her gaze fell to the floor, prompting Xisheng to take another step forward so he could be more direct. "If you do not care for the lives of your countrymen, then by all means, let them continue fighting. But if you want to spare the lives of people that would otherwise needlessly die in a futile battle against an army dozens of times their size, then accept your responsibility as their leader and have them stand down. A certain degree of bravery and determination is admirable. But what your people are doing now is suicide, not courage. This war has claimed enough lives already. Don't make that statistic any graver than it already is."

The young ruler remained quiet as Xisheng turned to leave, confident that he had made the impact that he had intended to. But before he could make his exit, Yue spoke to him once again. "What right do you have?"

Turning to face her again, Xisheng kept his expression as neutral as possible. "Excuse me?"

While she had been staring at the ground before, Yue now raised her steely gaze to the soldier before her. "What right do you have to speak of unnecessary death? Of avoiding needless loss? How can you speak of such things when it is your nation that started this war? Your nation that invades homes, destroys families, your nation that has wrought so much death and pain against people that have done nothing to you? All of the suffering that the world has endured for the last one hundred years is the fault of the Fire Nation. And yet you have the audacity to speak of such things?"

Xisheng closed his eyes for a brief moment as he contemplated his answer. Long had he pondered these very truths; the Fire Nation had inflicted a great deal of pain on the world. Pain that could have been avoided. However, the pain they caused now was to save the world from centuries of suffering later. War had been their only option for bringing enlightenment to the world, as the Avatar and the Spirit World would not allow it to be achieved through peace.

"Tell me, Princess: if there was a child being abused by their caretaker, would you be morally at fault for their suffering if you did nothing about it?"

Yue's expression was clearly confused. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"I'm merely curious."

"...of course. To know the right thing to do and not do it is the same as committing evil."

Xisheng smiled, amusingly wondering if the princess realized how similar her ideal was to his own. "Yes, I couldn't have worded that better myself. As a matter of fact, that concept is the very core of the Fire Nation's motivations for this war."

"Your misguided nationalistic pride and supremacist beliefs do not make your nation right!"

"That's true. But come now Princess, do you honestly believe my nation's people have sacrificed their quality of living and even their own lives for an entire century just to laud superiority over everyone else? And if it was a matter of personal gain, believe me when I tell you we've lost much more than we've gained, and we crossed that threshold decades ago. This war is one of a kind; the first and hopefully last war that will need to be waged for this cause. You're still young. Chances are you will live to see what I mean."

Not following his rhetoric but obviously not caring for it in the first place, Yue's glared at him once again. "I'll certainly live to see the downfall of your nation's empire due to its hubris."

Xisheng donned his helmet as he opened the door to leave. "You said it yourself; to know the right thing to do and not do it is the same as committing evil. The only question that remains is which concept of 'right' is objectively true? For now, I believe the right thing would be for you to prevent the needless deaths of your countrymen."

Though she seemed unhappy to acquiesce to the enemy, Yue finally relented just as Xisheng left the room. As much as she hated to admit it, he had a point there. "I will order my people to stand down..."

Exiting the Princess' chambers, Xisheng nodded to the two guards that stood outside before glancing around to find Captain Chikaraishi absent. This was fine of course, though it left Xisheng without standing orders. He was unsure of where he should go or what he should do. He could of course return to the current command center for new orders, but he honestly didn't feel like it now that most of the important stuff was over and done with. Besides, he had already done more than was required of him by far.

With that in mind, Xisheng stepped out into the awful temperatures of the North Pole, wondering why anyone would choose to live there willingly. Then again, with the Avatar ensuring that trespassing on the lands of others was nearly impossible, perhaps the Water Tribes had never really had anywhere to go. It was yet another notion that would be nonexistent should the Fire Nation emerge victorious from this war.

Still, as he slowly walked along the ice bridges and walkways of the North Pole, Xisheng couldn't help but dwell on Yue's words to him. She was right on all accounts in saying the Fire Nation was solely responsible for initiating this war. Frankly speaking, every single person that had died fighting this conflict was on them, as was any of the suffering caused by wartime strife. This begged the question; was it right to commit evil to achieve good? This loaded question was one Xisheng had pondered many times.

On one hand, the logical choice was yes. If you had to murder one person to save three, then you did something wrong to achieve something right, and that was acceptable. But intrinsically, the question was much more complex. Morally, evil was evil regardless of why it was carried out. The murder of one to save many would still be considered immoral. That said, how could anyone be sure of the righteousness of the Fire Nation's cause? Mistakenly or not, they had wiped out an entire race, and claimed the lives of tens of thousands besides.

Ultimately, this cost could change the course of the world, and both save and improve the lives of millions in the future. But did that make it right? Xisheng did not know, but he also did not fault the Fire Nation for the war itself. They had tried to do things peacefully; the Avatar had been the one to prevent that, and even the one to resort to force first. Roku had made it clear that the only way the world could change was through conflict. The only way they could forge a better future was if the Avatar and all the spirits had no part in it.

This was Xisheng's conviction. He fought not for himself nor for his nation, but for all mankind. He was certain that the Fire Nation had embarked on this mission to finish it, and no one was going to stop them. Not the Earth Kingdom, not traitor generals, and most certainly not the Avatar.

* * *

A mere day later, Princess Yue stood before her assembled people to give the speech that Xisheng had convinced her to be necessary. She stood atop a balcony several stories above a large courtyard that held the assembled inhabitants of the city. Several Fire Nation troops were around the area as well, just to make sure nothing got out of hand. By now, Yue was already through the opening gist of her delivery.

"I understand your desire to fight for your homes and your comrades. I am not suggesting that you all simply give up hope and accept defeat. But the way to resist now is not through fighting. I know for many of you, there is no alternative besides opposing the Fire Nation. But as much as it pains me to admit it... continuing to fight them now will only bring more suffering to our own people. Those of you that continue to fight against them, please consider your families. As things stand, more conflict is pointless. Don't allow-"

At this point a large portion of the crowd was getting into a frenzy. The outraged voices of many people attempted to be heard over all of the others, but more importantly it was possible that a riot was on their hands. For the moment though, the majority of the anger was focused on the Princess, and not on the surrounding Fire Nation troops.

"How dare you suggest we just roll over and let them trample us!"

"The real Chieftain would have never said such a thing!"

"You're just a coward! You'd rather surrender to the Ashmakers than fight to the death!"

Xisheng shook his head as he watched the ordeal. Such blatant disrespect to one's leader would have never been accepted in the Fire Nation. A combination of fear and admiration kept people from spouting foolishness at the Royal family. As for this situation, many of the people around were starting to move against the perimeter of Fire Nation soldiers. And while Xisheng wasn't actually a part of that perimeter, he was certainly close enough to have some sort of obligation in containing the threat.

However, before Xisheng could take a step towards the commotion, a hand was placed on his shoulder. Turning to face the person that clearly wanted his attention, Xisheng came face to face with Captain Chikaraishi. Considering that he looked no different from any of the other soldiers here, Xisheng wondered how the Captain could have possibly known it was him, but perhaps by now the man recognized his stance, or simply the way he carried himself.

"Xisheng?"

"Sir?"

Apparently affirming that he did indeed have the right soldier, Chikaraishi withdrew a rolled letter from a pouch at his waist, adorned with a black ribbon that denoted a priority message. "You've got new orders Corporal. By decree of the Fire Lord himself."

"The Fire Lord himself? Surely that's an exaggeration Captain."

"Believe me, it's not. Truth be told I didn't think the Fire Lord himself would read my report for the battle, but apparently he took a personal interest in the account since it regarded General Iroh's betrayal, and untainted by the Admiral's arrogance at that. Just read it, you'll see."

Still a little doubtful, Xisheng took the message and unrolled it so he could read it for himself. The beginning of the message was addressed primarily to the Captain, acknowledging that the report had been thoroughly analyzed and taken into consideration. The second part pertained entirely to Xisheng himself.

 _For his bravery and dedication to the Fire Nation, Fire Lord Ozai commends Corporal Xisheng. For his exploits in thwarting a catastrophe and reducing the casualties incurred by the Fire Nation Navy through tactical appraisal, Corporal Xisheng is hereby promoted to Lieutenant. For his exceptional combat prowess, Lieutenant Xisheng is ordered to return to the capital immediately for induction into the Royal Guards._

Simple as that, the message had nothing more to say, at least in regards to Xisheng. Obviously it had not been written by the Fire Lord's own hand, but the commendation certainly was true. No one spoke for the Fire Lord, so no one would ever presume to voice his thoughts for him. That meant that the Fire Lord had indeed read the report submitted by Captain Chikaraishi, and he was truly impressed with Xisheng's role in it all. There was a great deal of pride in knowing that the leader of your nation acknowledged you.

Still, all of this news at once was quite shocking. "I didn't even know you could jump from enlisted to officer like that..."

Captain Chikaraishi chuckled. "Well considering the vital strategic role you played in the battle, you're more fit to be an officer than a grunt. I had to do some digging to hear about all you did, but according to Private Nani your advice probably saved hundreds of Fire Navy lives."

Xisheng tilted his head at him. "Private who?"

"The soldier you shared guard duty with the day we launched our invasion."

"I see... well I'm honored to have received such a drastic promotion, but it doesn't sound like I have a choice in this Royal Guard business..."

This earned another chuckle out of the older man that was still a superior officer by one rank. "You really don't, but look at it this way; there's no way the Fire Lord would pull you from the field just to stand guard at home. The Royal Guards must be seeing some serious action soon."

"Do you think-?"

Xisheng's query was cut off by the cacophony of a scuffle erupting behind him. For a moment he had completely forgotten about the potential riot that had been brewing.

Turning on his heel, Xisheng witnessed several Fire Nation soldiers attempting to hold back dozens of angry Water Tribesmen. No one was bending yet, but it seemed likely that the situation was going to escalate from bad to worse.

Xisheng was about to join the fray, but Chikaraishi stopped him a second time. "Hold up Lieutenant. You have a ship back to the capital to catch."

"Right now? Sir, there's about to be a full-blown riot!"

"That's true. But the Fire Lord's orders are to be carried out the moment they are received. We've got more than enough men here to keep things under control. You head back to the shoreline and get going. It's a long trip back as it is."

While Xisheng was incredibly reluctant to leave with an impending fight coming on, he figured that Chikaraishi had a point. It wasn't like the Army would collapse without him there. "If you say so Captain..."

Still watching the brawl going on in the courtyard, Xisheng began to walk away from the scene, barely hearing the words of the Captain one last time. "Good luck Xisheng. I hope the next time we meet it's at the victory banquet."

Finally turning to face the ocean instead of the city, Xisheng mumbled to himself. "You and me both sir..."

* * *

By the time Xisheng finally set foot on Fire Nation soil again, the irony of his situation had long since grown sour. On the way to the North Pole, he had enjoyed the novelty of riding across the open seas. On the way back to the Fire Nation, he had come to hate it. Even being an individual that was not prone to seasickness, he had grown seriously tired of that ironclad ship plowing through the waves. The ride from the Earth Kingdom's northern coast to the North Pole had been a little more than a week and a half. The ride from the North Pole to the Fire Nation had been a little over a month. It had been maddening, and so unbelievably droll that Xisheng had lost his nervousness and anticipation for the future for awhile.

He had of course spent most of the ride in solitude, considering his lack of familiarity with the crew. All things considered, he was kind of eager to get back to some sort of unit he would actually be a part of, even if he was nervous to join the Royal Guards. He was even more nervous when he thought about who else he would be around when he did join the unit. He recalled Captain Chikaraishi's words: Fire Lord Ozai wouldn't have pulled an able combatant from the field to stand guard at home unless the Royal Guards wouldn't be home for much longer.

Of course, the Fire Lord certainly wouldn't be going anywhere. But that only left his daughter, Crown Princess Azula. Xisheng didn't know anything more about her than the average Fire Nation citizen, but he had of course heard that she was supposed to be some sort of Firebending prodigy. And while Xisheng didn't doubt those rumors himself, there had been no practical chance for the Princess to exemplify her skills. Going to the front line could be that chance for her, but she was so young; fourteen or so. Of course age was not an indicator of capability, but Xisheng wasn't comfortable with the notion of someone so young going to war. Then again, maybe he was jumping to conclusions. For all he knew the Crown Princess wouldn't be going anywhere at all, and even if she did, it probably wouldn't be to the actual front line. Besides, he was still a few months shy of seventeen. He was hardly a grown man.

Either way, as much as Xisheng would have enjoyed a day or two to relax after so long at sea, he knew as well as any soldier that a delay in following the Fire Lord's orders was unacceptable. He had to report to the palace for induction into the Royal Guards immediately, though he doubted the process would be so simple. Surely a demonstration of his abilities would be in order before he would be allowed to join such an important unit. The only question was who he would be performing for.

The thought of it was nerve-wracking, but on the other hand it was pleasantly soothing to be back in the capital. The city of Xuchang rested comfortably within the famous Caldera of an ancient volcano. It was not the place of his birth, but he had spent many years training here in the capital to be a soldier. He briefly wondered if Sergeant Taizo was still around, terrorizing new kids, but there was little time for Xisheng to track down his very first mentor. Still, he wondered what the Sergeant would say if he learned that one of the men he had trained was being inducted into the Royal Guards. Chances were he would claim most of the credit, but that was alright. The most important aspects of Firebending had been drilled into him by that man, after all. He deserved some of the credit at least.

For a brief while, Xisheng managed to turn his attention away from his impending future. Walking through the streets of the Fire Nation capital served as a strong symbol of what he was fighting for. Of what the world could achieve. Here, there was no 'poor district.' There were no beggars on the street, trying to survive on the whims of their fellow man. There were no squalid children trying to scrape a living in alleys, no sickly elders walking about in rags, no one clearly suffering from starvation... it was the dream of Fire Lord Sozin, just not yet fully realized.

That said, it was far from a utopia. Of course Xuchang had problems; taxes were higher than normal because the war had to be funded. There was an upper echelon of society that often looked down on the common class. There was a mandated draft for males over sixteen. It was a wartime city, with all of the problems that included, but it was still far beyond the decrepit cities of the Earth Kingdom, where the poor were kicked to the farthest outskirts to suffer in silence.

Of course, one could argue that the only reason Xuchang was in a better state than Ba Sing Se was because the Fire Nation was winning and the Earth Kingdom was not. But any historical expert could tell you that the situation in the Earth Kingdom had been what it was now long before the war started. The symptoms may have been exacerbated now, but the war was not their origin.

Xisheng wondered if anyone in the Earth Kingdom knew how truly terrible their situation was. Were they oblivious to it, because they had experienced it all their lives? Did they think their lives were the way things were supposed to be?

He supposed they did. After all, it was difficult to be aware that there was something wrong with the only life you had ever known. It was why so many people actually changed their tune under Fire Nation dominion. Granted, newer colonies and conquered cities were still resentful and bitter, but older ones like Yu Dao had not only accepted Fire Nation rule, but embraced it. Once the Fire Nation had introduced a better quality of life to them, it was but a matter of time before the people realized their conquerors were not as evil as they had made them out to be.

Of course, it had been well over a decade before Yu Dao came to appreciate the benefits their conquerors brought, but hopefully that city would be the first of many. Unfortunately, Xisheng got the feeling that Ba Sing Se would take much longer to acclimate to the new rule than most of the smaller cities had.

One way or another, Xisheng did his best to weave through pedestrian traffic on his way to the palace, which was easily seen even from his position on the streets. Xuchang was easily the largest city in the Fire Nation, and this fact was mostly amplified for those traveling to the palace because most people that arrived in the city did it from the shore. The palace lied at the center of the city, making it a long walk from the perimeter.

But it gave Xisheng time to relax his nerves as he walked towards the next step in his career. He was nervous of course, but expectant as well. He had never thought he would advance beyond the rank of common soldier, yet here he was, a Lieutenant about to be inducted into the most prestigious and elite unit in the Fire Nation. As far as he knew, the Royal Guards weren't military; they answered only to the Royal Family. Then again, considering that the Fire Lord was the commander in chief, didn't that mean that they technically were military...?

Ultimately Xisheng shelved that thought to be answered at a later date, and the rest of his journey consisted of a nostalgic enjoyment of Xuchang's sights, sounds, smells, and overall atmosphere. He couldn't even remember the last time you could actually smell spices in the air. And the sound of actual laughter from the surrounding citizens was something Xisheng had not heard in many months.

This being the case, the hour long trip to the palace went by a bit faster than Xisheng had anticipated, and soon enough he was at the gates of the palace, where four of the Royal Guards he could possibly be joining barred his entry. While they all looked the same to Xisheng (uniformity was pretty popular in the military), the one that was supposedly the leader stepped forward to ascertain Xisheng's purpose for being there.

"State your business."

Knowing that his word was as good as nothing at all here, Xisheng handed over the letter Chikaraishi had given to him back at the North Pole. The guard before him perused the entirety of the letter before rolling it up and handing it back to him.

"Welcome to the palace Lieutenant. You'll be escorted to the proper room."

The guard motioned towards one of his cohorts, who bowed to Xisheng before turning and heading into the palace. Xisheng bowed to the other guards before hurrying after the one that was guiding him. While he focused on following the woman, Xisheng couldn't help but gawk at the architecture and design around him. He had of course never been to the palace before, being nothing more than a common soldier, and the view from a distance really didn't do the place justice.

The outside was flourishing with all sorts of vegetation, with a plethora of trees, bushes, and flowers dominating any open area. The structure of the palace itself was distinctly ornate, with dark red wood accented by flawless gold comprising the majority of the used materials. The interior itself had a distinctly dusky feel to it, being dark but not unwelcoming. It was strange that a place lit with so many torches could have any shadow at all, but Xisheng found the atmosphere kind of homey, if nothing else. At one point he and his guide passed a hall depicting every Fire Lord since Sozin, which Xisheng found strange considering that there had been far more than that. Then again, perhaps this hall was only for the current dynasty, which had begun with Sozin.

Due to his insatiable curiosity in observing his surroundings, Xisheng did not really take note of how he got to the chamber he was lead to. The only indicator that he had arrived was his guide stopping at that particular door. He was ushered in without any delay, at which point Xisheng found himself in a large, open chamber that was clearly designed to house Agni Kais.

The guard that had lead him here bowed before retreating out of the chamber, leaving Xisheng to more or less leap to the isolated platform that rested in the center of the chamber. It was Xisheng's understanding that this was the place Prince Zuko had undergone his ill-fated Agni Kai. It was kind of foreboding in that respect, though Xisheng doubted he would be facing the Fire Lord.

When a few newcomers did enter the chamber, Xisheng turned to face them with a mix of determination and anxiety, the latter of which was quickly amplified when he noted that the man entering the room was exactly who he had just told himself he would not be facing. The stoic, stalwart face of Fire Lord Ozai peered down at him from the balcony Xisheng had just left, with several Royal Guards flanking him.

 _OK, calm down. This doesn't mean anything. It's only logical that the Fire Lord would be here for this. The Royal Guards protect both him and his family. He would want to see for himself the prowess of the people he's entrusting such a responsibility to._

Thankfully Xisheng was right, and the Fire Lord sat in an ornate seat separated from the others. It seemed he would be observing this test alone, as the four Royal Guards that had entered the chamber with him descended onto the platform Xisheng currently occupied. As they all took combat stances to face him, Xisheng deducted that he would simply have to prove himself against them. Whether or not that meant actually winning was another question entirely.

There was absolutely zero delay in the start of the combat, as two of his opponents shot forth obvious yet powerful fists of flame to meet him. Xisheng's first instinct was to dodge the raging blast, but he quelled that impulse, choosing instead to block the combined attack with a wall of his own flame. He was being tested as a guard, meaning his role would be to protect. His concern would be the safety of his charge, not himself. That meant blocking attacks that came their way, not avoiding them. While the Fire Lord's face remained completely impassive, Xisheng hoped he was on the mark, and that actual defense was what the stony man wanted to see.

That would be easy enough if the enemy continued with straightforward attacks, but it was no surprise when they attacked all at once, and in different patterns. After all, who knew when a Royal Guard would be outnumbered? Two of the guards repeated the initial straightforward attack, but the right most one launched a curving fireball to hit Xisheng from the side while the final guard leaped over the combined inferno with the ever popular flaming axe kick. Xisheng had to think fast if he wanted to handle them all appropriately.

The curved fireball reached him first. Instead of wasting time and energy blocking it, Xisheng chose to divert the flame, briefly commanding it to follow the path of his shoulders and fly harmlessly to the other side of him. Unfortunately, diverting a light attack like that one was easy. Diverting a combined power blast was not, forcing Xisheng to once again rely on a fire wall to protect him. He only had a second after dealing with that attack to nullify the incoming kick from the sky, but since there was no time to attempt a Firebending move of his own, Xisheng simply weathered the blow and blocked it physically, stopping the physical contact but still having the flame wash over him.

His armor protected him from the worst of that, allowing him to shove his attacker away, head over heels through the air. She landed on her feet just fine however, just in time for the remaining three guards to launch a barrage of fireballs from every conceivable direction they could manage. Still holding fast to the belief that he was supposed to thwart the attacks rather than dodge them, Xisheng quickly calculated the best way to handle this assault.

He would never be able to react in time if he waited for each sphere of flame to reach him. Instead, he began launching fireballs of his own to intercept them. Of course there was only one of him and three of the enemy, so he could not block them all this way, but by nullifying more of the attacks before they reached him, he could block most of the rest through defensive walls. It was a technique he had quickly learned on the defensive line in the Earth Kingdom, where being outnumbered by Earthbenders and their numerous projectiles was all too common.

There was no time at all to try and see what the Fire Lord thought of his efforts so far, but Xisheng figured he would have to be offensive at some point. After all, you could protect against attacks all day long, but until the enemy was neutralized the threat would not cease. With this in mind, Xisheng redirected the next fireball to reach him through the barrage of similar attacks to target one of the Firebenders about to throw another one at him. Caught in the middle of a motion, the man was unable to react fast enough to protect himself, getting launched backwards by the impact.

Taking advantage of the now decreased number of attacks he had to fend off for a split second, Xisheng quickly advanced towards the remaining enemies, continuing to counter their attacks as he did so. Unfortunately the woman who had thrown the axe kick at him earlier now stepped forward to sweep a tendril of flame at his legs, an attack that would easily knock him off balance if it wasn't avoided. Xisheng essentially hopped over it, not wanting to expose himself with a high jump into the air. He even managed to block two more fireballs during the maneuver, but he did not manage to block the followup bolt of flame when the only female guard threw a straight kick at him. The force of the blow sent Xisheng sailing backwards, though he rolled to his feet as soon as he hit the floor and unleashed a torrent of flame back at his trio of attackers, about to be rejoined by the one guard Xisheng had hit earlier.

Just as he had with Iroh, Xisheng took advantage of the blinding flame he had unleashed to close the distance between himself and his group of opponents, a movement they failed to notice whatsoever until their collective Firebending cleared away his inferno. Unfortunately for them, by the time they were able to see Xisheng's new proximity to their position, the potential Royal Guard was close enough to launch two powerful palm strikes at his center foes. The strikes to the chest, amplified by the concussive force of condensed Firebending, sent two of the guards careening off the edge of the Agni Kai platform, essentially removing them from the conflict.

Xisheng did not have long to revel in his small victory however, as his remaining two adversaries began to attack him in close quarters, foregoing Firebending altogether to instead rely on simple martial arts prowess. Naturally all military Firebenders had significant training in Shaolin Kung Fu (it was the martial art medium through which Firebending was used after all), but it was unusual for it to be used without the associated element. That said, Xisheng himself was quite adept at hand-to-hand combat, because the chaotic battles on the defensive line had often called for a quick reaction to a nearby foe.

Even so, he was outnumbered by two skilled fighters. He managed to block a few strikes on either side of his body, but his opponents were smart enough to alternate their attacks to catch him off guard. Xisheng quickly found one of his legs kicked out from under him, sending him to one knee as he raised both arms to block combined side kicks to his torso. But the force of the dual blow broke his guard, and the follow up straight kick to his chest both knocked the wind out of him and sent him reeling backwards.

Despite the tightness in his chest, Xisheng knew he had to display perseverance and determination to keep fighting. Performing an ukemi that allowed him to windmill his legs in the direction of his two remaining opponents, Xisheng unleashed two torrents of flame that kept them at bay as he used his motion to return to a fighting stance.

Both he and his adversaries were ready to engage once again, exhaustion be damned, but they were prevented from doing so as the voice of the Fire Lord cut them off with one curt command.

"Enough."

Dropping their stances, the combatants turned to face the Fire Lord, bowing to him. The ruler of their nation said nothing, instead rising to his feet and calmly walking to the door to exit the Agni Kai chamber. Xisheng waited until he was absolutely sure the man was gone before daring to speak his misgivings.

"Is that... good? He didn't say anything, what does that mean?"

Understanding his trepidation, one of the Royal Guards turned to face him. "Don't worry about it. If the Fire Lord were not satisfied with your performance, he definitely would have made it obvious. This means you passed, and it's a well earned passage too, if I do say so myself. Welcome to the Royal Guards, Lieutenant Xisheng."

Xisheng breathed a sigh of relief, his concern over his performance washing away with the news that he had been sufficient. "Great. So... what's next?"

"You'll need to get acquainted with a new uniform, obviously. After that you'll need to be briefed on a series of protocol and rules, not to mention quite a few oaths... but after that it's just rest. We're leaving the Fire Nation first thing tomorrow morning."

The now advanced Firebender shook his head in dismay. "Seriously? I literally just got back..."

"It's rough I know, but the Crown Princess is departing for the Earth Kingdom tomorrow to apprehend the traitor Iroh. She's taking the best fighters in the Royal Guards with her, and after your performance today, that includes you. If you have any other questions, you can ask them once we're out to sea tomorrow."

Xisheng bowed, not at all pleased with the idea of getting back on another ship. "Yes sir."

With a bow back in his direction, the two Royal Guards left on the platform began their descent to ground level to help their fallen comrades. As for Xisheng, he rolled the stiffness out of his shoulders, and went to go figure out where he could get the new uniform with the way more kickass helmet.

* * *

The next morning, Xisheng found himself hurried at a much more leisurely pace than he had expected. The day before, he had acquired his uniform and been sworn into the service of the Royal Guards, then been told they would be leaving first thing in the morning. Turns out first thing in the morning in the capital was a little different than first thing in the morning on the front lines.

For one, it wasn't the crack of dawn. Xisheng was roused by his fellow guards at roughly eight in the morning, and succinctly told that he had thirty minutes to be at the docks with everyone else. Not wanting to make a bad impression or otherwise do anything foolish on his very first day, Xisheng had wasted no time in donning his new uniform, one that he, to some childish degree, thought looked far cooler than the standard one. He especially loved the far more intimidating helmet and mask, though it was arguably a little more difficult to see out of compared to the standard Army helmet.

Either way, Xisheng had properly equipped himself with everything necessary in just under seven minutes, and it was at that point that he questioned how on earth he and the others would reach the docks in twenty minutes with the distance and the traffic taken into consideration. Turns out the Royal Guards moved throughout the city with an underground network, something that Xisheng would have thought a myth until he used it himself.

The maze of underground tunnels was home to tracks that utilized wheeled platforms. They were little more than steel squares with benches on them, but either way they allowed eight Royal Guards at a time to move unhindered through the city and at a much faster pace. Xisheng was impressed with the device, if only because only the Fire Nation could have it considering everyone's technological levels. Sure, the Earth Kingdom had that train thing they used in Ba Sing Se, but that was powered through Earthbending, not technology.

Mode of transport aside, Xisheng and his comrades in arms reached the docks with plenty of time to spare, and locating the ship they were to be stationed on was easy; while certainly not the size of the Inferno super battleship from the North Pole, the Royal Barge had plenty of features to give it away, aside from being the size of a Dragon Class Destroyer. The significantly more ornate prow than any standard ship certainly made it obvious as well. It also had its own space at the private docks, with no civilian or military ships within a thousand yards.

The Royal Guard contingent boarded the ship without delay, sweeping the entire craft for anything even mildly threatening, though mostly for threats along the lines of spies and assassins. When that was done, they returned to the deck and formed two lines, simply waiting for the arrival of the Crown Princess. Xisheng wasn't really familiar with all of this protocol, but he simply followed along well enough.

They did not have to wait long for the Princess and her palanquin to be brought aboard. If Xisheng had a way to tell the time, he would have seen that she arrived at exactly nine in the morning. While her notion of 'first thing in the morning' may have been a little askew, she was certainly punctual.

Following the cue of his fellow guards, Xisheng prostrated himself in deference well before the Princess even bothered disembarking from her luxurious means of transportation. Only after they had been in this position for a few moments did she actually emerge from her palanquin, not that Xisheng could see with his face practically in the ground. Considering that no one could see in their positions, the Princess had no choice but to use her voice to command them.

"Rise."

Every one of the Royal Guards did so, turning to face forwards when they did. As for Xisheng, he was struck by how commanding the voice of such a young girl could be. She certainly sounded older than fourteen, in tone if nothing else. Then again, she looked a far cry from fourteen as well. Sure, she had the height of a budding teenager, but her countenance, her poise, even the near flawlessness of her overall appearance: they all seemed unnatural on someone her age. Even so, she was very pretty. The severity of her expression didn't diminish the pure, piercing amber eyes that only the Royal Family laid claim to. Nor did it degrade the obsidian bangs that framed her features so perfectly.

Descending from the steps her palanquin rested on, the Princess wasted no time in beginning her succint briefing for their mission.

"General Iroh has disgraced and betrayed the Fire Nation, and brought shame to each and every one of us. My brother may be in league with him, or he may not. One way or another, you will be fighting members of the Royal Family. I understand some of you may have mixed feelings about this; but rest assured, I will not tolerate hesitation. If you cannot strike down Iroh and, potentially, my brother, I'll have no choice but to remove you from the Royal Guards. _Permanently._ Is that perfectly understood?"

"Yes, Princess!"

Even as Xisheng gave his affirmation along with his new comrades, he was glad for the helmet that hid his face. It allowed him to more or less gawk at the girl that was in total command. He had expected her to be stern, but not to threaten her own men. Then again, she was embarking on a mission to apprehend a legendary Firebender and master tactician. She would need complete dedication and unwavering conviction in the mission from her men, and this was one very effective way of ensuring it. Xisheng attributed her threat to that more than any other potential reason.

Regardless, the contingent of Royal Guards was dismissed after that short and to the point briefing. Strangely enough, there was little for Xisheng to actually do. There was actually very little for any of them to do. Their job was to guard the Princess. And while that was a much larger responsibility than any normal soldier had, it was also a very narrow range of responsibility. As a common soldier there was always something for Xisheng to do: check supplies, relay orders from officers, manage squads he may have been put in charge of, the works. Here he only had one job, and he couldn't very well do it unless the Princess was being attacked or in a compromised situation. Even on his first day, there was a surprising amount of downtime for a Royal Guard...

That being the case, Xisheng spent most of the day familiarizing himself with the ship and getting more familiar with his new comrades. What surprised him the most about the latter was the ratio of male and female guards. While women were certainly nothing new in the Fire Nation military, they were still a minority for the most part. Only about fifteen percent of enlisted troops were female, and only a moderately higher twenty percent were officers. This was mostly because most women didn't choose the military life, and because the draft didn't apply to them the same way it did men, because the ratio for the entire population was somewhat askew in favor of males.

Here though, roughly half of the Royal Guards were women. While some chauvinists in the regular Army disliked the idea of trusting women on the battlefield, here they were respected. And why not? They had all been required to prove themselves. They were all capable fighters, surely.

For Xisheng, the day passed very slowly. Aside from having nothing truly important to do, he was extremely unhappy to be aboard a ship once again, so soon after finishing one voyage. It wasn't until the late afternoon that someone actually brought forth a decent idea. One of the other relatively new Royal Guards, Akuwagata, suggested that he and Xisheng do a little sparring on the deck. He seemed to be as depressed with the boring nature of their first day as well, and since he was no longer the 'rookie' of the group thanks to Xisheng's induction, he wanted to test himself against the new guy. Xisheng had no problem with that, and the two of them found themselves on the deck of the barge rather quickly.

Xisheng thought it strange that they had the entire deck to themselves. He figured that more people would have been up here, enjoying the sea breeze or the vermilion shade of the sun on the waters, but there was no one else present. Everyone was below deck somewhere, or on the bridge. That being the case, at least he and Akuwagata had plenty of space to fight.

Their match was nothing special, though mostly because Akuwagata was nothing special. Xisheng hated to think that since it seemed kind of haughty on his part, but he didn't really see anything too impressive from his sparring partner. The man had raw power, but he didn't have any strategy. His method of fighting was little more than executing various combat forms, and it wasn't difficult to predict or even defend against. Xisheng had to actually hold back to have the match last longer than a minute. He supposed a regimented fighter could be useful in certain situations, perhaps against a score of typical combatants, but if it came down to a fight against a skilled warrior, like the traitor they were hunting, such an approach to fighting would be less than useless.

He was too rigid really. He almost fought like an Earthbender, with one set course of action that he didn't know how to deviate from. Still, maybe it was unfair to be so judgmental. In a one on one fight Akuwagata's style wasn't worth much, but coordinated with his comrades he would be much more efficient. Certain styles of fighting did fare better in certain situations, after all.

Xisheng was about to block another straightforward blast when Akuwagata stopped himself short, staring at the bridge of the ship for a second or two before bowing. Easily concluding what the holdup was, Xisheng turned around as well, spotting the Princess descending down the crimson carpet that shrouded the steps to the bridge. He of course wasted no time in bowing as well.

Surprisingly, the Princess seemed to find their actions amusing. Then again, that half sardonic tone she so excelled in exuding made it seem like she found everything amusing. "Please, don't stop on my account. What worth would you have as my guards if you didn't keep your skills sharp?"

Xisheng wasn't sure how to respond to this; she was technically giving them the go ahead to continue practicing, but protocol dictated that engaging in anything even remotely dangerous around the Royal Family was a massive folly. That included training within a hundred feet of the Crown Princess.

Thankfully Akuwagata voiced exactly that. "Your Highness, we will vacate the deck if you desire to occupy it..."

This reply earned a slight frown from the young girl. "Well, I see you weren't chosen for intellectual reasons. What part of 'don't stop on my account' was unclear? In fact, just consider it an order. I won't have my guards grow incompetent because they don't train."

With nothing to really say to that, Akuwagata bowed even further. "Yes, Your Highness."

With no means of dissent now, Xisheng and Akuwagata returned to their sparring match, though it was much more tense now. Xisheng had his back turned, so he didn't know what the Princess was doing, but what if she were watching them? Judging their abilities? Granted, if he could impress the Fire Lord Xisheng was reasonably confident he could impress his daughter as well, but that would mean demolishing Akuwagata, something that didn't sit quite right with him.

Thankfully, it became painfully obvious that the Princess wasn't watching them at all when a brief crackling sound heralded a bolt of electricity shooting forth from the deck of the ship. The lance of blue cracked across the amber sky, a strange sight indeed considering the temperate weather, but Xisheng was far too flabbergasted by the feat itself to dwell on its magnificence.

 _I'd heard rumors that the Royal Family could bend lightning, but I never thought it had much merit to it... does she even need protection when she is capable of such an incredible form of bending? I doubt even that traitor Iroh could counter that..._

Briefly lost in thought as he was, Xisheng was caught off guard when a somewhat strained blast of fire came roughly his way. He said roughly because it was actually quite a bit off, so much so that Xisheng could simply stand still to avoid it. Unfortunately, letting the attack pass him was a very bad idea because of who was behind him. Even more unfortunately than that, Xisheng was too unprepared to somehow intercept the blast before it passed him.

He glanced over his shoulder to see the ball of flame hurtling right at the Princess, and he immediately questioned how he was going to die. Thrown overboard? Burnt to a crisp? Hanged? Who knew?

Alarmed as he was, Xisheng barely managed to breathe a sigh of relief when the blast of ill-aimed fire briefly turned an azure blue before dissipating at the hand of the Princess herself. Unfortunately, his relief didn't last long. The expression on the girl's face was calm as ever, but definitely unhappy. Disdainful maybe. Xisheng didn't know, but either way it was bad.

Azula sighed as though she had only been inconvenienced, stroking one of her bangs as she glanced off into the ocean. "Not for intellectual reasons indeed... if I were paranoid, I would almost accuse you of being an assassin of some sort, but no one that actually wanted to kill me would employ such a pathetic attack."

Akuwagata bowed so low his head was almost level with his knees. "M-m-my apologies P-Princess..."

"Oh, I'm sure. But I really don't care much for apologetic drivel. So stand up; you can hardly fight me like that."

There was a brief moment of confusion for the two Royal Guards, once again voiced by Akuwagata. "I-I don't understand, Your H-highness..."

The Princess leveled a disdainful glare at Akuwagata. She seemed to be exceptionally adept at that. "Yes, we've established already that you're lacking in mental acuity. It just seems to me that if you're so eager to train that you can't even control your own Firebending properly, you must need some 'advanced' opposition. Both of you are going to fight me. And it's going to hurt, but maybe you'll learn something useful."

Though she gave a relatively solid reason for doing this, Xisheng got the feeling the Princess just wanted to exact some petty revenge for the misstep of her subordinates. One could call her a terrible person for doing such a thing, but hell, she was actually being quite merciful. After all, had she been caught off guard she could have been seriously injured. Akuwagata had messed up, and so had Xisheng to some extent for failing to block the attack before it reached her. The Princess could have done any number of terrible, horrible things to them for endangering her, but she instead chose to simply mop the floor with them in a sparring match. Whether the goal was to just beat them up or humiliate them was a mystery.

Either way, Xisheng knew there was no getting out of this one, so he took a firm stance and prepared for the worst. Behind him, Akuwagata did the same, but he was clearly wavering and far too scared for his own good. The Princess actually seemed to appreciate Xisheng's resolve in facing her, though interpreting her expression was actually pretty difficult. But if there was one thing drilled into every soldier's head during training, it was to stand your ground against a foe no matter how outclassed you were, provided a fight was inevitable. It was a lesson Xisheng had displayed against Iroh. A lesson that Zuko probably could have used to very great effect before his banishment.

Either way, the Princess didn't wait even a moment for her far outclassed opponents to be ready, launching thin, spear-like bolts of azure flame at both of them simultaneously. Akuwagata, still fumbling in his stance, attempted to block it but was sent hurtling backwards, while Xisheng decided to dodge the blue flame rather than block it, considering his lack of experience with it. He had no idea how strong this variety of Firebending was compared to the regular kind, but he was willing to bet that the difference was significant.

However, he barely had a second after dodging the first attack before another bolt raced at him, and then a third when he dodged that one. Not only were the Princess' attacks powerful, but they were fast: much faster than any Firebender Xisheng had ever seen. It was all he could do to less than gracefully evade getting shot in the chest by rolling, ducking, and practically dropping to the deck of the ship to avoid getting hit.

By now Akuwagata had returned to his shaky feet, but he did nothing in regards to actually attacking the Princess. His lack of involvement on that front caused him to be almost entirely ignored by the teenager, who continued to harry Xisheng with shots that he was sure were not as strong or fast as they could have been. He got the distinct feeling that she was toying with him, which was no surprise really but still insulting. Xisheng knew he was not the best Firebender: he was certainly not better than the Princess. But he at least believed himself to be a good fighter. No matter who he was facing, he liked to think he at least provided some challenge.

Besides, he noticed that the Princess seemed to be rather disappointed in the whole ordeal, or bored at the very least. Xisheng could at least rectify that. Akuwagata may have been unwilling to attack the Princess, but she had explicitly stated that they were to _fight_ her. Not stand around and get pummeled by her. With that in mind, Xisheng settled on returning fire after his next dodge.

Leaping over the next shot, Xisheng kicked out two wheels of flame, the duo soaring towards his target for but a moment before they were nonchalantly sidestepped. Even so, The Princess almost looked impressed. Almost.

"Bravo, one of you actually did something. I honestly thought you were going to let me shoot at you all day."

While he definitely wasn't going to bet on his interpretation of anything the Princess said, Xisheng felt that she too understood the inherent code of honorable combat for a Firebender: fight for fighting's sake. It didn't matter if you won, as long as you fought your absolute hardest.

With that notion in mind, Xisheng went on the attack, hurling every conceivable move he could at the Princess from his distance. He swept waves of fire at her feet, launched wheels of flame at her torso, curved fireballs from different angles, he even used the somewhat rare Sunder technique, launching a wall of flame at the girl that split in two as it traveled. They were all equally useless. Every single one was dodged or simply brought under the Princess' control before she forcefully dispersed them. The powerful Sunder technique was simply kicked into nothingness by one swipe of blue flame.

Desperate for some kind of headway, Xisheng tried his somewhat signature technique of blinding the enemy with an inferno before closing the distance. However, he had no time to employ the second half of the technique, as a condensed tendril of blue flame pierced the veil of orange and blasted Xisheng right in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards. The force of the blow was enough to knock the wind out of him and probably bruise his torso, but not pierce his armor.

Without him to power it, Xisheng's own attack faltered and dissipated, revealing the Princess looking no worse for wear than she had before. Still, Xisheng was standing, and not without energy. He wasn't going to stop now. But he had figured by now that he would never match the Princess in Firebending. Considering her unusual bending style, perhaps she was unskilled in hand to hand combat?

Trying to capitalize on that gamble, Xisheng used his Firebending to boost him forward, closing the distance between him and the Princess in but a few seconds. Of course, Xisheng was certain she could have reacted at any time to stop him from getting so close, but she must have been curious as to what his next attack would be.

Indeed, she was surprised to see a regular axe kick coming at her, but surprised or not she nevertheless dodged it. In fact, rather than retaliate at all, she simply avoided everything. Every punch, every kick, every feint, and certainly any other kind of threat her opponent posed. At some point Xisheng tried to crush the shorter girl under a downward elbow strike, but he found the Princess' fingers half an inch from his gut before he could connect, and a controlled yet nevertheless powerful spurt of blue flame smashed into Xisheng's stomach with enough force to keel him over in pain. In a second he was on his knees, struggling to breathe.

The Princess seemed convinced that the match was over, but she found herself rather pleasantly surprised when Xisheng struggled to his feet and took some semblance of a combat stance, though it was suffering from fatigue and pain.

The Princess cocked a curious eyebrow at him. "Are you a sane member of my guards, soldier?"

While he found it hard to speak, Xisheng knew he couldn't leave the Princess unanswered. "I... haven't been incapacitated yet... I can still fight...Your Highness..."

There was a brief moment of silence from the younger girl as she contemplated the man before her that looked no different than any of her other guards. "Is that so? Well in that case, I order you to stand down."

More than a little relieved to hear that, Xisheng dropped his stance, though he refrained from any display that was too unsightly.

"What's your name, soldier?"

Surprised that the Princess had anything else to say to him, Xisheng nevertheless managed a reply. "Lieu...Lieutenant Xisheng, Your Highness."

His response actually earned a small expression of surprise from the Princess. "Really? The same Xisheng that fought against my Uncle at the North Pole?"

"T-the same, Your Highness."

This actually elicited a slight smirk from the girl. "I didn't think you'd actually arrive in the Capital for induction before I left, Lieutenant. Allow me to commend you personally for your efforts to thwart my traitorous Uncle at the North Pole."

Xisheng wasn't sure how rare praise from the Crown Princess was, but based on what he had seen of her so far, he was convinced that it was a once in a blue moon occurrence. "You speak too highly of me Princess. I only did what was expected of any soldier."

"Oh, it's your duty as a common soldier alright, but I doubt there are many soldiers in our military that would have dueled the Dragon of the West. Furthermore, it's my understanding that you played a significant tactical role in the siege. The Fire Nation needs more soldiers like you, truly."

"I-I'm honored that Your Highness thinks so."

The Princess glanced down at her nails. "As for your combat prowess..."

This was the part Xisheng didn't want to hear. He had been soundly defeated without giving a single scratch in return, after all.

"You're good. Not even close to my level of course, but definitely better than most of the common rabble in our Army. More importantly, you fought me seriously despite knowing you couldn't win. Your awareness of the futility of your efforts didn't stop you from nevertheless fighting your hardest. Truth be told I admire your bravery, though I suppose it could be considered asinine as well."

Xisheng wasn't sure how he felt about that last spiel, since a lot of the compliments seemed kind of backhanded. But they were still compliments, so Xisheng decided to take them for what they were. As for the Princess, she turned on her heel, stalking back towards the bridge where her private quarters were. "Be on the deck by sunrise tomorrow morning Lieutenant. I prefer to train early."

Left speechless by that order that could have meant any number of things, Xisheng fumbled for some sort of reply. His shock didn't last long though, because the Princess seemed to remember something just before she left the deck.

"Oh, and one more thing."

Quickly turning on her heel, the Princess shot another of her blue lances of flame at Akuwagata, who was still standing on the far end of the ship. The impact was significantly harder than anything she had used in her spar, blasting the poor guard backwards and smashing him against the edge of the deck railing.

"Hesitating to fight members of the Royal Family includes me."

With that, the daughter of the Fire Lord finally made her exit, leaving Xisheng staring after her with a wide array of mixed feelings. He wasn't sure if she was a ruthless individual or simply a girl that knew what she wanted and expected and worked to make it happen. Either way, Xisheng decided to worry about the Princess' intentions in the morning later. Instead, he took a brief moment to futilely rub the soreness out of his torso, then turned and walked back towards Akuwagata to make sure the guy hadn't broken his spine or something.

* * *

 **Nothing much got altered in this chapter. Just some small details and a few better choices of words.  
**

 **Though I guess I retconned Xisheng's CQC skill level. In hindsight it didn't make much sense that someone whose medium for bending is Shaolin kung fu would be unskilled at actually using it to fight.**


	3. The Suffering of Improvement

**People write Azula in a lot of ways. Redemption arcs (implying that she did anything wrong *cough*), romance with people she would definitely detest, or as a high schooler. What if I told you her most interesting form is actually just her typical self, but mildly more reasonable in a few critical aspects?  
**

* * *

Strangely enough, Xisheng discovered that Azula now had a greater understanding of sunrise than the day prior. Before, 'first thing in the morning' had translated to eight O'clock. Now, the Princess was actually on the deck of the ship as the sun rose above the horizon of the darkened ocean. Xisheng had made absolutely sure he was present on the deck at that time, because he was pretty sure that the Princess wouldn't be pleased with his absence after directly ordering him to be there.

To be honest Xisheng had been surprised to learn that the Princess woke up this early to train. Being a Royal he figured she would be less inclined to be up this early, especially of her own accord, but here she was all the same, stepping onto the deck of the ship that would have been completely unoccupied were Xisheng not standing on it as well. Even this early she looked completely perfect, devoid of fatigue, irritability, or anything else Xisheng attributed to being an early riser. He for one was not such an individual. Thankfully his helmet hid the early morning scowl that marred his face.

"Good to see you Lieutenant. It's difficult enough to find a good sparring partner as it is, it would be truly lamentable if you disappointed me."

Xisheng cocked an eyebrow at his teenage superior. She said that like he had a choice in obeying her orders. "I'd never miss a chance to train with a legendary Firebender of your status, Your Highness."

Azula unknowingly returned the expression Xisheng had given her. "As talented with flattery as we are with fighting I see. Well, perhaps you are actually more skilled with the prior."

Xisheng inwardly winced. He had to admit, the Princess had quite the talent for being so subtly scathing. She wasn't even directly insulting really, but it still stung. Still, he couldn't just not answer. "Yet you've still selected me to be your training partner Princess."

"Well, I didn't say your skills weren't passable. Just that they may be sub-par in comparison to some of your other abilities. That said, I haven't exactly tested all of the Royal Guards here personally, so I can't say for sure if you are the best on board. But I hardly have time to spar with every single soldier beneath my station, and you've proven yourself to be capable enough to at least keep my skills sharp. I do hope you'll fight with as much fervor today as you did yesterday Lieutenant."

"I'll give it my all Your Highness."

"That's all I can ask for."

Like yesterday evening, Xisheng found himself engaged in a sparring match with the Princess again. But this time was a little different. While Azula had mostly toyed with him the other day, this time she launched into the combat with measured ferocity that was clearly designed to push her opponent to fight harder. The first azure blaze that came Xisheng's way could have incinerated him had he not tried to mitigate it in some regard. Still, his defensive fire wall only softened the blow that still engulfed him in searing heat. It really was a good thing that Fire Nation armor was naturally fire resistant.

However, even though Azula acted a lot more aggressively this morning, the rest of the duel was still mostly similar to the one before it. Xisheng tried as many techniques and approaches as he could think of, but none of them even came close to scratching the Princess. To be fair, Xisheng did actually catch her by surprise sometimes. He would throw a kick she didn't see coming or interrupt a standard combo with an unorthodox attack, and Azula would clearly be caught off guard.

But the problem was that even when he surprised her his attacks weren't fast or strong enough to take advantage of the opening. She could still react fast enough to avoid or overpower the attack. Xisheng had skill and creativity, but not enough power to make the most of it. At least not against a foe like Azula.

Within a few minutes, Xisheng was flat on his back and heaving for breath. Azula was completely unmarred and seemingly relaxed to the fullest. "Well, I'll applaud you for your effort, Lieutenant. Not for success, but this and that are wholly separate."

Not sure if it would be inappropriate to stay downed in the presence of the Royal Family, Xisheng struggled to his feet, ignoring the pain in his ribs as he did so. "Am I at least applauded for my versatility, Your Highness?"

Azula seemed amused by the question as she checked her nails for some invisible dirt no one could ever possibly notice. "Yes, actually. I'll admit I'm impressed with your ability to change your approach in the middle of combat. Were I a lesser Firebender you would actually be formidable. Where did you learn the moves that aren't part of our standard military forms?"

"Well I...just made them up, honestly. You spend a few years fighting in battle and you're sure to come up with new moves. Right around the time the Earthbenders started getting used to the old ones."

Azula graced him with a look that was both curious and intrigued, but ultimately she merely spoke one word.

"Interesting..."

The young ruler to be left it at that, effectively dismissing Xisheng to go lick his wounds and his pride, a task that was only mildly difficult. He had not been seriously injured after all, and he didn't really feel bad for losing to a Firebending prodigy. Still, even though he told himself that, he had to admit that it kind of stung to lose to a girl so young.

* * *

Roughly two weeks into their trip at sea, each day of which Xisheng had been thrashed by Azula quite thoroughly, the Princess' retinue finally reached their destination, which was little more than the northern coast of the Earth Kingdom. They were stopping at a small port town under Fire Nation control, where the trees were in full bloom with gorgeous petals of pink and red. All of the Royal Guards were gathered on the deck of the ship, waiting for their Princess to brief them on why they were here.

Thankfully the young girl was pretty quick to fill them in as she came to stand at the fore of the assembled soldiers. "We will soon be apprehending my Uncle and my brother. I am going to be confronting them alone, but I expect all of you to be ready for anything when I bring them back to the ship. That said, try not to act too hostile; I'd like to avoid a conflict here if at all possible."

While it went against the instincts and training of the Royal Guards to allow the Princess to go anywhere by herself, there was little they could say to stop her from doing what she wanted. As for Xisheng, he was curious as to how Azula could know for certain that their target was in this town. Sure you could use some deductive reasoning to determine that this town was the most likely place for them to have come after the North Pole, but she seemed entirely confident that they were there, with no room for error at all. He supposed that was a question he should just leave unanswered, tallying it up to the Princess' machinations that were beyond her troops. Maybe they rogues had just been reported by one of the town's citizens.

Either way, the Princess was only absent for a short time before she returned to her ship, though she was alone when she did so. This prompted a bit of confusion from her guards, who had expected their targets to be in tow, but she dispelled their confusion easily enough as she walked up the ramp. "My uncle and brother will be along shortly. Do line up and give them the proper respect owed to the Royal Family, would you?"

The guards could only assume that Azula had somehow convinced Iroh and Zuko to come along willingly. It was certainly the only explanation for why they would come to the barge of their own accord, or why they would be treated with any respect. That said, there was no need for an explanation in that regard. They simply did as they were told and didn't make assumptions, content to leave the planning to their Princess. They knew it was unwise to make any assumptions on Azula's behalf.

So they did as instructed. Twelve of the Royal Guards, Xisheng among them, went to stand on the dock, waiting for the arrival of their 'guests.' They only had to wait for ten minutes for the Prince and the traitor General to descend from their mountain resort, what little they had in their possession with them. It was truly little beyond clothing and some bare necessities, but Xisheng was more concerned with the suspicious look in the General's eyes above all else. The young Prince Zuko looked completely at ease, eager to return home for the first time in many years. But Iroh was clearly expecting treachery, eyeing every single guard with doubt.

Of course, Xisheng couldn't blame him for being suspicious. He had not killed the guards that had witnessed his treachery at the North Pole. Surely they had relayed news of his actions to their superiors, and by now Ozai had to have known what he had done. He did not believe that his defense of the Moon Spirit would just be overlooked. Still, it would have been foolish for him to do anything rash without a reason. Until it was obvious that they were in a compromised situation, he would rather play along.

Azula stood at the top of the boarding ramp with two of her guards flanking her, where she exhibited a personality Xisheng was almost certain was false. Either that or his short time in her presence had yet to reveal a far nicer side to her.

"Brother, Uncle; welcome aboard. I imagine you're quite ready to return home."

Zuko made some whimsical remark about returning home after so long, understandable considering his absence, but Xisheng ignored it in favor of the ship's captain, who proceeded to shout orders back to his crew on the deck. "Raise anchor men! We're escorting the prisoners home!"

Everyone present visibly stiffened as the captain practically ruined everything in a mere moment. Azula shot him a glare that promised fitting reprecussions, but more importantly, Iroh immediately turned to attack the two guards nearest to him on the dock, catching them unaware and tossing them into the water. The next pair of guards attempted to retaliate, but the old man was faster than he looked, and they were swiftly knocked away before they could do anything either.

As for the captain, he was standing between Zuko and his sister, so he quickly found himself thrown overboard by the scarred Prince. "You lied to me!"

Despite her own irritation with how this situation had turned out thanks to one foolish blunder from an incompetent moron, Azula managed to remain as calm and collected as ever at Zuko's approach. "Hardly a first, Zuzu. But before you do anything foolish here, do consider your actions; attacking now will be committing a crime against the Fire Nation. That'd be very unwise."

Naturally Zuko ignored her entirely, stepping up to fight the two guards that were protecting the Princess. As for Xisheng, he had to trust in Azula's ability to defend herself (and he certainly had faith in that), as he and the rest of the guards had to focus on Iroh. Unfortunately, the narrowness of the dock prevented the guards from simply swarming him with superior numbers. They could only really attack one or two at a time, and this meant they had no real advantage. Against one or two enemies at a time, the Dragon of the West easily outclassed his foes, even being the elite Firebenders they were. After all, there was as considerable of a margin between average and elite as there was between elite and legend.

Still, it was an unfortunately pathetic encounter. Nearly every guard that attacked Iroh was defeated within one or two blows. The pattern was simple enough; the guard would attack, Iroh would deflect or divert it, and then he would shove them over the edge of the dock with his superior weight and poise. Perhaps the guards were refraining from powerful Firebending attacks because they were supposed to take Iroh alive, but they would never manage to beat him if they didn't give it their all. When the line of soldiers was diminished enough to place no one between Xisheng and Iroh, the recently promoted elite Firebender decided against engaging in melee in favor of launching a fire blast large enough to engulf the dock with both hands.

Unfortunately an attack of this magnitude wasn't overly difficult to disperse for the Dragon of the West, who simply kept his stance as he shouted back at his nephew on the ship. "Zuko! We need to go, now!"

Xisheng tried to catch him off guard while he was glancing over his shoulder, but the dual fireballs that came at the traitor general from both sides were easily caught and sent right back at him. Xisheng deflected those to either side of himself, refraining from attacking again as he contemplated his best approach to this fight. Unfortunately, he got the feeling that this engagement would be uncannily similar to their last one, which was infuriating since he outright hated this traitorous scum.

On the deck of the barge, Azula was doing her best to hold back a sigh as she effortlessly dodged literally every move Zuko tried to hit her with. The guards that had been protecting her had been dispatched far too easily, which frustrated her immensely, but more than that she was trying to get Zuko to understand why everything he was doing right now was a terrible idea.

"You're making a mistake Zuzu."

"My only mistake was trusting you!"

Azula leaned back to dodge another swipe of Zuko's flaming daggers, wondering how anyone could be so dense. "Zuzu, we're only here to arrest Iroh. He's the only one that committed treason."

"Prisoners' definitely sounds like more than one person to me!"

The Crown Princess caught her brother's hands when they came at her in a downward swing, pitting their similar golden glares against one another. "The captain was a fool that made an assumption. I technically didn't specify that you wouldn't be a prisoner, but I had no way of knowing that you weren't in league with Iroh until now."

"In league with what? He's done nothing wrong!"

"He teamed up with the Avatar and attacked an Admiral and his retinue. That's treason Zuko."

Naturally the banished Prince didn't accept this. He had been taught that his sister always lied. Strangely, he couldn't quite remember who had ingrained that notion in him. "You're lying! Uncle would never help the Avatar, he knows how important capturing him is to me!"

With a smirk, Azula kicked her brother away, lowering her already casual stance as she did so. "Then by all means, feel free to ask him about it Zuzu. Ask him where he was and what he did during the invasion at the North Pole. I know you're a little slow, but even will be able to recognize evasion when you hear it."

Despite the futility of his efforts, Zuko prepared to engage his sister again, only to be interrupted when his Uncle came racing up the ramp. "Zuko! Don't waste your energy. We have to run!"

Azula briefly contemplated attempting to fight both of them to take Iroh prisoner, especially since her Uncle was clutching his side. He had apparently been wounded, which meant that Azula could have an advantage. But even so it was likely that she would need all of her attention to defeat the Dragon of the West, and that meant Zuko could be moderately dangerous if they fought her in tandem. It was a bad idea tactically, but on the other hand she could actually benefit from letting them escape.

"Go ahead and run along Zuzu, but do try to think for yourself while you're at it. Look back on your hunt for the Avatar. Ask yourself how much Iroh ever _really_ helped. I think you'll see the truth soon enough."

Zuko looked like he wanted to object or otherwise defend his Uncle, but he was clearly conflicted. Despite how much he wanted to admit it, he felt that Azula may have actually been onto something. But he wasn't going to just trust her at face value like this. He would investigate things himself. For now he was far more inclined to trust his Uncle than his younger sister.

With a clear opening to escape, Iroh led his nephew off of the ship and down the boarding ramp, passing the prone Royal Guard on the dock there. Objectively Iroh appreciated the soldier's skill. Subjectively he had to admit that tendril of flame to his flank had really hurt. Still did actually.

Azula casually sauntered off of the deck of her ship as she watched the now fugitive duo flee the docks, eyeing the entirely defeated Royal Guards that were mostly clambering back onto the dock by now. Only one of them was actually incapacitated on the dock itself, though the masked soldier was slowly pushing himself to his knees. There was a rather severe scorch mark in the center of his chest piece.

"I'm going to assume that's you, Lieutenant Xisheng."

The soldier glanced up at the completely unscathed Princess, only to bow his head a moment later. "Forgive me Princess. I was completely useless."

Azula glanced around at the other recovering soldiers, making sure to raise her voice loud enough for all of them to hear her. "Well, at least you weren't absolutely humiliated like the rest of these incompetent, pathetic fools. In fact, you did actually wound my traitorous Uncle, did you not? That's more than anyone else here achieved."

"But I still failed. The mission is a failure because I was too weak."

The Princess scoffed. "The mission is a failure because _someone_ is an idiot. Get up Lieutenant. You can berate yourself when you become as worthless as your comrades."

The Princess turned on her heel and began walking back to the ship, with Xisheng slow to follow her considering the gradually dulling pain in his chest. However, he was forced to stop when the Princess did the same, the young girl glaring down at the water where the captain of the ship was just beginning to climb back onto the dock. Naturally, he stopped in his tracks when he noticed the scathing glare of the Crown Princess on him.

"Captain, I suggest you jump right back in that water and find another way home. Unless you'd like to be thrown overboard once we're out to sea instead?"

The bearded captain visibly gulped before releasing his hold on the edge of the dock and slinking back into the water. It would have been kind of comical if Azula's threat wasn't so obviously real.

"The rest of you had better be on the ship in the next sixty seconds if you don't want to be left behind."

The rest of the Royal Guards, still reeling from their recent defeat, now hustled to get back on the ship, fairly certain that the Princess never made empty threats. Xisheng simply followed the rather terrifying teenage girl up the boarding ramp, incredibly relieved that he seemed to be the only one with her favor on the whole ship.

* * *

Later that night, as the ship was docked a little farther along the northern coast of the Earth Kingdom, Azula contemplated her next move as she rested on the palanquin that sat at the top of the stairs on deck. Her two advisors, an extremely old pair of twins, sat to her left and right. Four of the Royal Guards were prostrated before her on the deck, though Xisheng was not among them. They simply stayed still and silent as Azula listened to the two crones beside her.

"When tracking your brother and Uncle, traveling with the Royal Procession may no longer be an option."

"May no longer be wise."

The two of them finished together. "If you wish to keep the element of surprise."

Azula resisted the urge to sigh. "Lo, Li: believe me when I say that the novelty of your rhymes and downright unsettling unison has been lacking for quite some time now. Likely since I was a toddler. _Don't_ do that again."

The old women said nothing, merely nodding their acknowledgment as Azula continued.

"Still, you're absolutely right. Aside from the logistical issue of moving this many people about, the Royal Procession has proven to be quite... inadequate. I gain no benefit from bringing along all of these worthless sods, two of which were bested by _Zuzu_ of all people. No, I need a small team, and preferably one where the term 'elite' actually means something."

"Most wise of you, Princess Azula."

"Indeed. Thankfully I know just the people I need to bring along. I think we'll be visiting some old friends very soon."

Naturally the Royal Guards present for this discussion were a little uneasy with it all, but considering their humiliation at the hands of the traitorous Dragon of the West, they supposed they were getting off easy. Certainly easier than the captain earlier.

* * *

Despite his injury, Xisheng was present on the deck of the barge at the crack of dawn the next morning. He was not sure if the Princess would care to be there herself all things considered, but as per the usual, she likewise stepped onto the deck of the ship just as the sun was rising. Apparently her training was one thing she was absolutely determined to keep punctual. For the record though, she did seem surprised to see Xisheng there.

"Lieutenant. I thought you'd be recovering from your wound today."

Xisheng bowed to her, gingerly since the aforementioned injury did hurt quite a bit. It hadn't really pierced his armor or anything, but the concussive force of the blast had given him quite the bruise. "If it doesn't cripple or kill me it won't stop me Princess."

"Is that so? Well, in that case I assume you're ready for today's session?"

Xisheng would have scoffed at the euphemism. So far each session had simply been Azula beating the crap out of him. Even so, he would have been ready still were it not for something that weighed heavily upon him that day.

"Actually Princess... if you would allow it, I have something I would ask of you."

Azula was noticeably surprised at such a thing, though she had no initial quarrel with it. "Very well. I do hope it's important."

Knowing that what he was about to ask could quickly result in many things he did not wish to experience, Xisheng got to his knees and bowed before the Princess, prostrating himself completely before making his request. "Princess, please train me!"

Simple as that, Xisheng laid out his desires, and Azula suffered a very rare moment of confusion where she didn't know what to say. Of course, it didn't take very long for her to find her voice. "Excuse me?"

Unsure if it was wise to continue, Xisheng nevertheless did so. "I must be stronger. If I were taught by someone as talented as you, I could be."

Azula cocked an eyebrow at him, an expression that Xisheng couldn't see considering his position. "You honestly think I'm going to use my precious time to train a mere soldier? I'm surprised you have the gall to even ask. What makes you think a member of the Royal Family would ever agree to such a thing?"

She didn't sound angry, or even irritated. Just... factual. Of course, that was equally scary when it came to her. "I have served both you and my nation poorly Princess. Twice I have had the Dragon of the West before me, and twice I've allowed him to escape. I know you do not need my protection, but I would like to at least be useful to you. I want to serve my country to the greatest possible capacity I can manage. I know I am overstepping my boundaries in asking this of the most prodigious Firebender of the Royal Family, but I simply desire to be of greater help to your cause."

Azula allowed a few moments of silence to pass between her and this Lieutenant that was certainly not cut from the same cloth as the rest of his comrades. Truth be told she had been planning on ditching him along with the rest of the Royal Procession, but this new situation gave her pause.

As a perfectionist at heart, Azula understood the drive to improve on a truly integral level. She was always seeking to improve, regardless of the risks or obstacles. Xisheng was doing the same here, going so far as to risk the consequences of insulting the Royal Family to make it happen. Moreover, it was a rare day indeed to find someone this dedicated, both to his duty and his nation. After all, were any of the other guards out here trying to convince the Princess to teach them so they could better serve? Certainly not.

That said, Azula did think the position of teacher was beneath her station. Why should she of all people use her time to train up someone weaker than her? Why spend her time and effort to make someone else better for their own gain?

But this wasn't exactly the same. Xisheng wanted her guidance not so he could gain greater glory for himself, but so he could better serve her and her cause. In the brief time he had been in her retinue, Xisheng had already proven to be the most dedicated of all of her guards. Besides, he was quite possibly the only man besides her father that Azula actually had some halfway decent modicum of respect for. He wasn't pretentious enough to reject the idea of asking for assistance from someone better than him. He understood his own weakness and sought to make it stronger rather than hide it. He had guts, unyielding loyalty, and the will to fight any enemy. He was a rare one definitely, and Azula had already admitted to herself that he had potential. With a teacher of her caliber, perhaps he really could reach an astounding level of skill.

Honestly, perhaps this was actually a good idea. Azula herself would probably get more practice by teaching her skills to another rather than effortlessly beating him up with them. And if she were going to form a small, elite team to hunt her enemies with, what better candidate than someone who was completely, totally loyal to her, and one that she could train herself? She would never have to question his level of competence if she were the one teaching him. He was actually a prime candidate for her envisioned team.

"Say that I actually had enough pity to spend my time on a grunt like you, Lieutenant. What guarantee do I have that you'll take it as seriously as required?"

Xisheng maintained his bow. "All I can offer is my word Your Highness, as well as your brief experience with me."

Normally the Princess would have scoffed, but her brief experience with Xisheng was actually a pretty good indicator to take into consideration. He didn't back down from any challenge, no matter what the odds. Few soldiers would fight their hardest against the Dragon of the West and the Crown Princess, especially knowing that they stood no chance. There was a foolhardy determination about him, one that Azula actually appreciated.

"I see. So when your body screams for reprieve, and your mind tells you to simply give up because any training from me will make that suffering far worse, you will ignore it all and get up again just to suffer all the more, correct?"

"I swear. The only rest I will receive is from your command or death."

Inwardly Azula had to admit that there was a certain drama to this situation that may have been unneeded, but it was honestly amusing so she did nothing to rectify it. "Very well then Lieutenant. Congratulations, you may very well be one of the only Firebenders in history to ever be a personal pupil to a member of the Royal Family. Now all you have to do is stay alive long enough to reap the benefits of my tutelage."

Actually flabbergasted that he had succeeded in getting the Princess to accept him as a student, Xisheng nevertheless managed to get to his feet without delay, bowing again when he was finished. "Thank you, Your Highness. I will not let your graciousness be wasted on me."

"That remains to be seen. That said, we may as well start now. Be grateful; today at least we can focus less on actually doing anything and more on making sure you actually understand the most important core concepts. After all, Firebending grounded in a flawed understanding will never surpass that of an average bender. So tell me, what is the basic physical source of Firebending?"

"Breathing. The most potent Firebending is achieved through the power of the lungs."

"Congratulations, you're already a better Firebender than Zuzu and probably half of all the benders in our nation."

Honestly Xisheng was not sure if that was supposed to be an actual milestone, but at least he was off to a good start. Under the ruthless teachings of his new teacher however, he wasn't sure how long that would last.

* * *

Within the next two days, the Royal Barge stopped just once in some coastal town, in which Azula had tasked her guards with entering the settlement and gaining information on a rather particular subject: the circus.

Naturally none of them knew why on earth their Princess would be interested in such a thing, but they knew better than to ask questions. Once they had ascertained where the circus would be stopping next on their Earth Kingdom tour, the Barge had set sail again for the next port that would place them closest to that destination.

Xisheng would have been curious as to the nature of their destination as well, where he not far too busy with his new training regimen to care. Somehow, someway, it had actually been _less_ painful to have Azula beating him up than it was to be trained by her. As she had said the day she had accepted him as a student, the first morning had been nothing but a discussion and lecture on the many core facets of Firebending. The proper way to fuel it physically, the proper way to power it emotionally, its true nature as an element, and how Firebending had the greatest potential for evolution of all the elements.

That last tangent had interested Xisheng the most. Like any kid that had paid attention in school, Xisheng knew that there was supposedly an ancient art of bending that controlled energy in its purest form. No one knew how to do it today, and no one really knew much about it other than the fact that it had supposedly been more powerful than any of the four bending arts that existed today. All anyone in the Fire Nation knew was that it had once existed, and now it did no longer, at least not in its original form.

Azula had told him that she believed Firebending to be the only incarnation of 'energy bending' that still existed. And she had made quite the fair point on the matter. Of all the four bending arts and nations, only Firebenders could create. Waterbenders needed a source to draw their water from. Earthbenders could not do anything if they did not have earth present to manipulate. Even Airbenders needed actual air to control, though it was difficult to imagine many places on the planet where air was absent.

Only Firebenders could create their own element. Their own energy. They did not need a preexisting flame to manipulate. For this reason, Azula believed that Firebending had the greatest potential to evolve beyond what it was. Other elements may learn new ways to control their substances, or new substances within their element that could be controlled, but they could never create something of their own. The Crown Princess had used her ability to generate lightning as the prime example. Lightning certainly had nothing to do with fire. It was not related to fire in any way, so how could it be controlled by Firebenders, unless what Firebenders truly did was bend energy in the form of flame rather than flame itself? If that were true, who was to say what other forms of energy Firebenders could learn to control?

It was unfortunately theoretical of course. Even Azula had admitted that her thoughts were mostly conjecture, whether she believed them or not. But she had done a fine job of convincing Xisheng of it all. Firebending was indeed unique in comparison with the other elements. There must have been a reason why.

Unfortunately, Xisheng hadn't really had any time to dwell on this theory regarding Firebending, because the day after the philosophy lecture was over Azula actually began the physical aspect of training. Granted, on the first day it was little more than Azula putting him through his paces to see how well versed he was in the core of Firebending, forms both basic and advanced. She had been more interested in his poise, the fluidity of one stance to another, the integral parts of fighting that were the same for every martial art.

The issue was that she didn't stop with a simple assessment. The moment she spotted anything amiss, even the slightest mistake in a stance or form, she would make him run through it forty times. He had practiced one single stance for a whole hour that day simply because he held his arm a fourth of an inch too low. The same occurred throughout that day with most every other form. Xisheng had imagined that Azula was a perfectionist of some sort, but he had not expected her to be quite this radical about it.

Still, as much as it sucked, Xisheng didn't complain or even consider giving up. Besides, he imagined that this was probably still the easy part of Azula's training. Who knew how rough it would be when she actually went out of her way to teach him something new and expected him to master it to absolute perfection?

Either way, Xisheng was already experiencing a deep seated fatigue by the time the barge pulled into the port town they had been heading for. He normally would have been glad for this, because it meant Azula would leave the ship and he'd have some brief reprieve from her demands. However, he got the feeling that he would not be so lucky now considering his new relation to her.

He was unfortunately right on the mark. When the boarding ramp was lowered onto the docks of the Fire Nation occupied town, Azula ordered him along. "With me, Lieutenant. It could be a potentially... hazardous trip to our destination."

Obviously that was just an excuse to bring her new pupil along, but unfortunately it did not pass completely without contention. It was surprisingly Lo and Li that tried to get her to take something else along.

"Princess, surely you do not wish to walk? Take your palanquin, it will be much more comfortable."

Azula rolled her eyes as she turned back to the two old women. "Did you not just tell me that the Royal Procession was slowing me down just a few days ago? While I admit walking carries little appeal for me, neither does making this short trip three times longer because I used the palanquin. I think I can survive something as plebeian as walking."

Most of the procession present seemed appalled that the Princess would choose something so suited to commoners as walking, but they certainly weren't going to oppose her wishes. Regardless of what it was, she could do what she wanted, and that being the case she wasted no time in descending from the ship to the town below, with Xisheng on her heels.

The settlement itself was quickly skirted since it was little more than a starting point to their actual destination, though Xisheng took the time to observe the state of the town as he passed through it. He was always curious to see how well an Earth Kingdom settlement occupied by the Fire Nation was doing.

While Xisheng didn't know the exact name of this town or when it had been conquered in particular, he estimated it to be a fairly old dominion. The lack of construction work throughout the settlement meant most of that had been accomplished already. Building superior housing and living space for the people of the town was always one of the earliest orders of business, right after the fulfillment of the even more basic needs like food and medicine. There weren't many people panhandling on corners, and most everyone looked at least decently healthy and fed. There was still a present level of lower quality living present, but it was more subtle than obvious.

More than that, the presence of Fire Nation soldiers in the streets didn't seem to bother anyone. Everyone looked completely comfortable with the soldiers standing watch over their town. Xisheng even saw a young child approach one of them to ask him something, prompting the Fire Nation occupier to kneel so he could hear the boy more clearly.

"Reassuring, isn't it?"

Xisheng drew his attention away from the green roofed buildings marked with the red flags of the Fire Nation to look at Azula instead. "Is it, Your Highness?"

"You don't think so? This is a prime example of what the Fire Nation is trying to achieve in this war, and it seems to be going fairly well."

In that moment Xisheng could finally rest easy knowing one fact about the Royal Family. They had supposedly not forgotten the cause either. Then again, maybe the Fire Lord didn't care for it but Azula did, or maybe he was just making an assumption. Unable to be sure, Xisheng figured some subtle prodding could provide a more concrete answer.

"Truly? It seems a great deal of our resources are being used to better Earth Kingdom settlements..."

Azula cocked an eyebrow at him in confusion. "But of course. We are conquering this land, meaning it will be under our dominion. To leave these settlements in their dire state would only harm us in the long run when they become our cities in the future. Best to deal with the problem now than to allow it to fester."

"So we are only doing this for our benefit, correct?"

"Well, there is a more idealistic notion to it all I suppose... personally I don't care for it. The Earth Kingdom brought their level of poverty and sickness on themselves, and I personally don't think it's our job to fix that for them. But, if we are going to expand our own borders, we may as well solve the problems of the land we take, correct?"

Xisheng frowned under the cover of his helmet as the two of them passed beyond the outskirts of the small settlement. So Azula did know about the true nature of the war, but she didn't care for it. Still, it wasn't like she was actively against it, so at least under her guidance the mission would still be achieved, provided the war continued long enough for her to become Fire Lord.

Of course, perhaps Xisheng himself was just an idealist. Saving the human race from the tyranny of the Spirit World did seem like a far-fetched objective grounded in fantasy. But he liked to believe in a greater cause than expansion and dominion. Sozin had made it very clear that he began the war for the security of his own people as well as the benefit of the other nations. It wouldn't be right to throw away that part of their cause now that they were so near the end.

Either way he certainly couldn't go off and give the Princess of all people a philosophy lecture, so he stayed silent, simply hoping there were enough people in the Fire Nation's upper circles that believed in the cause to actually carry out the revolution once the war was over.

Naturally the circus the duo was heading for hadn't set up very far from the town, though Xisheng wondered why they would bother doing a performance at such a small place. Regardless, the tall red tents of said circus could be seen just a few minutes after Xisheng and Azula left the town itself, and Xisheng gave silent thanks that it was so nearby. Azula even made sure to tell him that she would have forced some sort of training on him as they walked if it had been a more considerable distance.

Gratitude aside, it was a short trek to small city of scarlet tents, where Xisheng was met with the altogether pleasant sight of cooperation between the varied performers of nearly all stripes. Granted, it was really only a mix of Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation citizens and nothing else, but the atmosphere was one of relative joy and overall enthusiasm. It was obvious that the people who were here wanted to be, and that they enjoyed the people they worked with. It was another example of how cooperation between nations, even in something as simple as entertainment, was good for the world. It was debatable whether or not the Avatar of the past would have bothered intervening in something like this, but either way Xisheng was sure this circus would have been relatively frowned upon for its integration of citizens from two different nations.

While Xisheng was enthralled with the sights and sounds of a locale he had never before experienced, which included a fair deal of interesting animals he had never laid eyes on, he still managed to follow Azula throughout the camp without trouble. After all, the Princess herself seemed to know exactly where she was going. Xisheng wasn't sure how, but he knew better than to question her on things such as this by now.

So, he decided to continue his observation of his surroundings instead, until Azula finally spoke herself. However, it was clear that she was not speaking to him.

"Hmm, I wonder who this girl balancing on her fingertips could be? Certainly nobody I know..."

Now aware that they had arrived at their destination, person though it may be, Xisheng turned his full attention on the person Azula was speaking to, though he was surprised for many reasons upon doing so.

The most prominent reason for his initial shock was the fact that the girl he was looking at was completely upside down. She was doing a handstand obviously, but she was supporting her own weight with nothing but her _index fingers._ An incredible feat in and of itself, it spoke volumes about ridiculous upper body strength besides. Or ridiculous extremity strength? Xisheng wasn't sure, but either way he was completely in awe of that particular ability.

On another note entirely, he was stricken by the fact that the girl's tight shirt (or half of one rather) did very little to actually restrain her considerable... assets, in her current position. He did his best to focus on something else since it made him feel guilty, but the next target of his gaze was the toned muscle of her bare midriff, and that really didn't help. Not for the first time, he was glad he wore a helmet that hid his face.

A brief look of surprise crossed the girl's face before it was replaced with a joy that lit up her chocolate brown eyes all the same as it did her smile. Xisheng got the feeling this was someone with quite the 'enthusiastic' personality.

"Azula!"

She recovered from her handstand, spun around in a way that would have whip lashed anyone nearby with her long brunette braid, and bowed to the Princess of the Fire Nation all in one fluid movement. To call her lithe was an absolute understatement. Xisheng wasn't even sure how she got back up from that bow as effortlessly as she did to crash into Azula with a hug, something Xisheng would have questioned were it not for the rather obvious familiarity between the Princess and this girl.

"It's sooo good to see you again!"

Azula actually smiled back at the girl, and not in the same way she smiled when she was about to pulverize Xisheng in a sparring match. She actually looked happy herself, which was almost disconcerting for a soldier who had never seen anything different.

"Likewise Ty Lee. But don't interrupt your regimen on my account, we both know it won't hinder the conversation."

Ty Lee apparently took that to heart, because she immediately flipped backwards onto the ground, her torso supporting her body as she stretched her legs over her head at an angle Xisheng would have thought impossible until just now. She even touched the heels of her feet to the back of her head. If it were anyone not nearly as good looking Xisheng may have found the whole thing... disturbing.

As for Azula, she glanced around at her surroundings as if she had only just now taken notice of them. "You know Ty Lee, you said you were going to join the circus, but I wasn't sure if I was ever supposed to take you seriously. But here you are, so I guess you were telling the truth. That said... I have a favor to ask of you."

Resting her chin in the palms of her hands, a strange juxtaposition of normalcy considering the contorted angle her body was in, Ty Lee glanced up at her childhood friend with a mockingly irate expression. "Rude. All these years and the first thing you want to talk about is favors? What is it?"

"I'm actually on a very important mission right now. You remember my old windbag of an Uncle, don't you?"

"You mean Iroh? Yeah, he was always so funny! In an eccentric old man kinda way. His jokes were pretty bad..."

"Yes well, he's turned traitor on us, and it's up to me to hunt him down so he can be tried for his crimes. Problem is, I don't think I can do it by myself. I need your help."

Ty Lee's expression quickly changed to one of uncertainty. On one hand she wasn't really eager to go anywhere, considering her love for the circus life. On the other hand, Azula was her friend...

"You... _need_ my help? I mean, like, really really?"

Azula frowned minutely at her. "I know I'm asking you to leave... well, whatever it is that makes you happy about this place. And truth be told, maybe I could catch Iroh without you. But I would feel much more confident if I had someone I could trust at my side. Look, you don't have to choose now. I-"

"Only if you promise to come watch tonight's show!"

The Crown Princess cocked an eyebrow at the conflicted yet resigned expression on her friend's face, having not expected her to actually skip her gracious consideration period. Then again, this was Ty Lee they were talking about. Impulsive was one of the more polite ways to refer to her personality. Still, while she was glad that Ty Lee was quick about her decision, she wasn't very enthusiastic about the ultimatum.

"Couldn't I just... I don't know, watch the part you're in?"

Ty Lee adopted some sort of expression that was probably supposed to be stubborn or defiant, but the pout made it look more childish than anything else. "How would you know what part I'm in unless you're there for the whole thing?"

Azula sighed, aware that she would be making a minor trade off for a great gain but still reluctant to accept. "Fine, fine... it is soon though, right? I certainly can't afford to loiter around all day..."

"Don't worry, it's not too late into the evening! And you'll love it! My aura is always the pinkest when I'm performing, trust me!"

The Fire Lord's daughter tried to smile away her skepticism, though she failed immediately. "Oh I trust you alright... I bet its positively rosy, not at all like its usual Hibiscus."

Azula's clever wordplay went right over Ty Lee's head, so she simply rewarded the Princess and her lack of enthusiasm with a beaming smile. "Alright then, I'd better practice to make double triple sure I do it all without a hitch! Just be back here at seven, you'll get a front row seat, I promise!"

Despite her lack of desire to attend a circus act, Azula smirked. "Actually, do you think you could make it two front row seats?"

Ty Lee cocked an eyebrow at her long time friend, but her confusion lessened a bit when Azula pointed at the masked guard next to her, who seemed as surprised as Ty Lee did. "Oh... sure? Yeah, I bet the ringmaster won't mind at all."

"Excellent. Then I'll be on my way for now Ty Lee. I'm... looking forward to it."

"Oh Azula, you don't have to pretend to be excited. I know you would rather die."

"Yet you're still making me do it."

"Well I have to get some sort of compensation for leaving, right?"

The Princess shook her head ruefully. "Ah, I knew my sadism rubbed off on you somewhere Ty Lee. Loathe as I am to admit it, I'm actually proud of you. We'll be back at seven."

With that, the Princess turned on her heel to make her exit, briefly reciprocating a wave Ty Lee gave before the acrobat jumped into another contortionist exercise that looked unhealthy but was probably the exact opposite. As for Xisheng, he tore his gaze away from the limber body of his newest acquaintance (not really even that since he had not been introduced in any way) to instead accost his teacher.

"So...two front row seats, Princess?"

"Come now Lieutenant, you didn't think I was going to suffer alone did you? We're in this one together."

"Well, j-joke's on you Princess, I actually wanted to go."

Xisheng briefly wondered if he was being too casual with a member of the Royal Family, but apparently Azula didn't think so. "We'll see if you still think that when they try to get a Platypus Bear through a flaming hoop. It's painful, let me tell you."

"Well, at least your friend's act will probably be entertaining. She seems, uh, capable?"

Azula actually scoffed, though she smiled nonetheless. "Capable indeed. I'm certain that's not why you're so eager to see her perform."

"Quite frankly Princess, the implication you're making wounds me."

"Is that implication wrong?"

Xisheng didn't give a response to that, leaving Azula to to mentally roll her eyes at the typical male desires. Besides, it was just poor taste.

She didn't have to be nearly as brazen as Ty Lee to be equally attractive.

* * *

Later that night, Azula and Xisheng, the latter in uniform as always, sat at the fore of the audience during the final act of the circus they had been coerced into attending. Azula could have had the entire audience ejected for a personal show instead, but she had decided against it. Why bother ruining everyone's night? Besides, all that did was draw more attention to herself, and while she was fairly certain there wasn't much in the way of risks right about now, she was nevertheless prudent enough to avoid doing that.

That said, Azula had disliked most of the circus as much as she had expected to, but she inwardly admitted with some reluctance that Ty Lee's part was both impressive and entertaining. Of course, it was not as if Azula didn't already have an inherent appreciation for her friend's talents. Many people mocked Ty Lee for what she could do, something Azula attributed to jealousy more than anything else. Those people were just mad that Ty Lee could do something they couldn't, and her prodigious acrobatic talent was but one of those incredible skills. It was the other that Azula was truly interested in for her mission. Iroh would be nothing more than a frail old man without his bending.

Of course it would also be nice just to have someone on her side she knew she could trust. Having subordinates on your team was one thing, but having friends was another. The loyalty of your friends was always stronger than those that served you. Even to herself though, Azula was reluctant to admit that she would also simply be glad to actually have a friend around again. It had been many years since she had been able to actually call anyone around her by that moniker.

In an effort to avoid admitting any such weakness, Azula focused on Ty Lee's performance as raptly as Xisheng did, the latter of which was absolutely flabbergasted by the girl that was currently balancing on a very unstable assortment of objects all being held by a tightrope. If she was even off by a tiny margin the entire thing would roll one way or another and throw the girl atop it all to the net below.

Speaking of the net, Azula was kind of miffed by its presence. She knew it was there to offer some sort of peace of mind to both the audience and the performer, but she knew better than anyone else here that Ty Lee didn't need it at all. Heck, Ty Lee knew it too. But the latter was probably too carefree to bother telling the ringmaster any such thing. As for Azula, she disliked the safety measure because it inhibited the experience. She and Ty Lee were different on almost every level, but they both shared a passion for a certain practice. Azula loved Firebending, and she loved Firebending without constraints or restrictions. She practiced her bending in its purest form, without any type of inhibitor to hold it back.

Azula knew for a fact that Ty Lee thought the exact same way about her acrobatics. When they had been together as kids, the young back flip enthusiast had always been testing her abilities in dangerous places. On the rails of a bridge, the ledge of a higher story of the palace, even the roof that one time... she had even expressed how pointless it was to test her limits if there was no possibility for real failure. This was the one thing that she and Azula had one hundred percent in common with no stipulations.

"Ringmaster, I have a request."

The somewhat aging man that was apparently in charge of the whole show bowed to her. "Of course Princess, anything you like."

"Set the net on fire."

Needless to say, the gray bearded man did not comprehend what was said at first. "I...I'm sorry?"

"The net that you use to ensure the acrobat doesn't die. Set it on fire."

"B-b-but Princess! As you j-just said, that net is-"

"Ringmaster. I hope you aren't telling a member of the Royal Family no?"

The man gulped, hesitating for only a moment more before turning to use his bending to set the net alight with orange flame. Azula smirked at her success, but needless to say even Xisheng had to speak up. As Azula had figured out already, he was prone to speak out for the benefit of others even if it was a risk to himself.

"Princess, I know it's not my place, but... Ty Lee is your friend right? What's the meaning of this?"

Azula looked moderately irritated to be questioned by her pupil and certainly displeased with the tone he was daring to take with her, but all things considered she supposed his incredulity and concern were completely warranted. "Oh calm down Lieutenant. This wouldn't have fazed Ty Lee when she was eight, never mind now."

Xisheng's body language said he wasn't entirely convinced, but he decided against questioning Azula a second time, seeing as how he had miraculously survived speaking out of turn and so rudely to her. To the Princess' credit though, at no point during the performance after that did Ty Lee falter in any way. She started sweating a lot more (something Xisheng inwardly admitted he enjoyed), but she never seemed truly worried or bothered even as she flipped and twisted through the air to the gasps of the much less confident audience. As for Azula, she watched the entire performance after that point with a pleased smirk. Xisheng got the feeling it was less because she was enjoying the show and more because Ty Lee was performing on a level that matched her capability. Azula seemed like the kind of person that wanted those around her to reach their maximum potential, though for whose benefit, Xisheng wasn't sure.

Either way, the rest of the act went without a hitch. Ty Lee's astounding acrobatics, greatly enhanced by the little stunt Azula had pulled, was the crowning achievement of the entire show, or at least it seemed to be so considering the thunderous applause she received when she finally finished. Unfortunately Azula and her escort were forced to wait for the audience to spill out of the tent, and even then they had to wait for Ty Lee to return to whatever counted as her quarters around here and prepare for the rather abrupt journey she had been presented with earlier that day. She probably figured it would be a good idea to take a quick bath after Azula's heat wave as well.

But at least she was quick about it. When she returned to the main tent however, Xisheng got the feeling it was because Ty Lee didn't have much to actually bring. Aside from switching back into the pink clothes he had first seen her in, she only had one small bag full of what could have only possibly been personal amenities and maybe different clothing. What was more noticeable was the rather cross look she had for Azula, though the Princess hardly appeared to be intimidated.

"Oh come on, don't give me that look."

"You set my safety net on fire!"

"Seriously Ty Lee, you and I both know that you were literally in no danger whatsoever. As if you would ever fall."

While she was glad to know Azula had such faith in her abilities, Ty Lee felt the need to point out something kind of important. "Azula, the safety net isn't for me, it's for the circus! I mean, what if the tightrope snapped? Or something else went wrong that I couldn't control? If I died in an accident like that the reputation of the circus would plummet!"

Azula shrugged, clearly not concerned with the circus' reputation. "Alright, I'll admit that's a fair point. But you're not really going to tell me you didn't enjoy it are you?"

Ty Lee looked like she wanted to object, but in the end she relented. "It _was_ kind of exhilarating. I'm all for safety, but you kind of lose that thrill when you know there's no danger y'know?"

Xisheng glanced between the two girls from the safety of his mask. He had questioned earlier how on earth someone with Azula's personality could be friends with someone like Ty Lee, but apparently they both had this particular thing in common. Many would have called it crazy. Or maybe just foolhardy. Xisheng decided not to call it anything lest he incur anyone's wrath.

* * *

The day after the strangest recruitment Xisheng had ever witnessed, the Royal Barge was once again on the move to a destination Azula apparently didn't feel like sharing. Of course, considering that the captain of the ship was no longer present, Xisheng wasn't sure who Azula was actually ordering to move the ship around, but he supposed it was ultimately irrelevant.

What was far more relevant was the fact that Xisheng had finally asked himself what the Princess was really up to. Sure, she could have just been gathering useful allies for her hunt, but there seemed to be more to it than that. He didn't know what she was planning, and though he trusted her judgment, he wasn't entirely comfortable with being left in the dark.

It was something he would have inquired about were he not completely focused on surviving the current sparring session. Even after being reunited with a long absent friend, Azula took no break whatsoever for the training regimen she had established for the student she had so graciously taken as her own. Unfortunately she decided that the best way to determine milestones was trial by combat, and today was the day she felt like seeing how well Xisheng had taken her first level of instruction to heart at the crack of dawn as usual.

One would not think that the simple mastery of basic forms would do much to improve an already skilled Firebender, but Xisheng was surprised to find that he felt a bit better in his bout with Azula. It was not a massive improvement, but he felt... sharper. Cleaner in execution. There was just a little less wasted movement in each of his attacks, and with that conserved movement came an equal amount of conserved energy. A minor improvement perhaps, but maybe this was what made Azula as good as she was. She mastered every aspect of the art, from the most complex to the absolute simplest... and that level of mastery on even the lowest scale improved overall performance to a significant extent.

Not that it made a considerable difference this time. As per the usual, Xisheng found himself constantly outpaced and outmaneuvered until the very end, when he was summarily dispatched with a low sweep of flame that knocked him off his feet. It was no different than the usual outcome he had come to expect, but still a slight hit on his pride.

Naturally Azula didn't help him up or anything, leaving him to do that himself as she gave a brief analysis on the session. "Adequate as usual. Don't take that to mean you haven't improved at all though. There's more acuity to your movements than there was before we started. It may not seem like much of a difference, but even half a second of improved speed and reflex can determine the course of a battle. Suffice to say you've advanced as well as I've expected from our very brief... 'relationship.' We'll definitely move onto something more challenging than simple forms next time."

Xisheng, out of breath as always, simply bowed to his teacher as he headed back to the lower deck of the ship. While he did indeed wake up every morning at the crack of dawn to train with the Princess, he had no issue at all going back to sleep after she was through with him, provided there was nothing important that needed to be done instead. It was probably also a good thing that Azula didn't know that was what he did after every lesson as well.

Either way, he made his escape easily enough, leaving Azula all by herself on the deck of the ship; for about ten seconds at least. She didn't even have time to begin her own usual training regimen before getting jumped by the only person in all of creation that would ever jump her.

"Azula, who is that anyway? That's the same guy you brought to the show with you right?"

Azula resisted the urge to sigh. She was honestly glad to have Ty Lee around again, but preferably not to disturb her typically mundane and more importantly peaceful mornings. "Ty Lee, why are you even up this early?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Don't you know that your aura is always at its peak when you're in tune with nature?"

"Right..."

The recently recruited acrobat took a single step back from Azula to level a determined gaze at her. "Anyway, you didn't answer the question! Who is that guy?"

Knowing Ty Lee's capacity for making everything far more dramatic than it needed to be, Azula tried to give a nondescript reply. "Isn't it obvious? He's one of my guards."

Her friend crossed her arms. Despite her lack of a brilliant intellect or anything, she certainly wasn't an idiot. "So you train all of your guards like that huh?"

Knowing full well that there was no point in saying otherwise, Azula gave up on any particular acting. "Fine. He's an exceptional Firebender and soldier that begged me to train him so he could be more useful. I said yes because he has more potential than any of the other rabble around here. He stood up to my Uncle in combat twice."

"Interesting. Is he handsome?"

Though Azula should have expected Ty Lee to ask that question, and while ignoring everything else that had been said besides, she was nevertheless caught off guard. "What? How should I know?"

"How would you not know?"

"In case you haven't noticed Ty Lee, he wears a helmet."

"And? He's never taken it off?"

Azula wondered why she had to push it this far, prompting her to sigh. "It's called 'uniform' Ty Lee. He has to wear it anytime he's around me."

Ty Lee frowned at her. "Yeah, but he's your student and you don't even know what he looks like? Just... seems kind of rude if you ask me. Besides, you aren't curious at all? There's no way you haven't wondered what he looks like."

"I have, but I don't care nearly enough to do anything about it."

"Well do it for me then, I wanna know!"

Honestly Azula knew this would continue for as long as she refused to give in, but she was too stubborn to do that. "And what, I should just order him to remove his helmet without any reason whatsoever? Like that's not suspicious in any way?"

"Just invite him to eat with us or something. That'll work."

This suggestion almost made the Princess laugh out loud. "Invite a common soldier to eat with me? You can't be serious."

On the other hand, Ty Lee didn't see any problem. Then again for obvious reasons she'd never cared much about social trappings. "Why not? You said he was exceptional and really brave if he fought your Uncle twice. Doesn't he deserve some kind of reward?"

As much as she didn't want to Azula admitted that was a halfway decent point. Technically Xisheng hadn't gone beyond the call of duty since everything he had done was just part of his duty, but considering how well he did it and to what extent compared to all of his comrades he did deserve some kind of accolade. Besides, Azula had to admit she was just a little curious as to what he looked like. It felt weird and unnatural to have a relationship with anyone yet have no face to put with their voice.

"...fine. I suppose I'll condone it just this once. Be grateful."

As usual, Ty Lee got way more excited than Azula thought was necessary, practically doing a full backflip just for kicks. "Alright! You'll be thanking me Azula, I bet he's really good looking!"

"He could be the most handsome man to ever walk this earth and it wouldn't change the fact that he's beneath me, Ty Lee."

"Totally fine by me Azula. Just means there's no competition if he's drop dead handsome."

"It also means there will be no one to pass him off to if he's a blight on all eyes everywhere."

Ty Lee shrugged. "I'll take that gamble. No risk, no reward, right?"

With that, Azula's acrobat friend dropped the conversation in favor of diving into her typical routine, and Azula decided to do the same, convinced that Ty Lee was harping on something completely irrelevant, but willing to indulge her anyway just to get her to settle down about it.

* * *

When evening came around, Xisheng had just barely taken one step into the mess hall with the rest of the guards before he was stopped by one of them from behind.

"Lieutenant. The Princess summons you."

Considering his current position in regards to her, Xisheng wasn't quite as nervous at that fact as he would have been otherwise, but he still couldn't think about anything really good he could be summoned for. All he could really imagine was another training session.

"Where is the Princess now?"

"Currently on the bridge Lieutenant."

Xisheng nodded his acknowledgment to the identically dressed soldier before exiting the mess hall he had just entered and heading back on deck so he could enter the command tower from its entrance there. Surprisingly, Xisheng didn't have to actually go very far to find the Princess, because she was even waiting for him in the hall outside of the main bridge.

"Took you long enough. Come on."

Without anything more than that, Azula turned to walk away from him, expecting Xisheng to follow her without dissent, though the soldier was clearly confused. "Your Highness, if I may ask-"

"You may not."

Giving up on getting any sort of answer, Xisheng simply shook his head and followed the Princess. It was a short walk though, because she only lead him to one level up. Even the door she stopped at didn't look like anything special.

"I assume the messenger I sent caught you before you ate dinner Lieutenant?"

"He did..."

"Good. Come on then, before I change my mind about this."

Azula pushed the door open, revealing a room that was moderately nicer than the rest on the ship, though only relatively speaking since it was technically still a cabin of sorts. However, it was obvious that it was intended for the Royal Family member using the ship, and no one else save their guests.

"Princess, isn't this...?"

"Yes, the private dining room for my personal use. Don't bother saying something about protocol or worthiness or whatever tripe you can conjure up, clearly I'm allowing you to be here."

Even though she said that Xisheng stepped into the room nervously. "But...why?"

Before Azula could answer, Xisheng received his reply directly in his right ear from the other person present that he hadn't noticed. "Because she's way more curious than she'll ever admit of course."

Xisheng flinched as he laid eyes on an exuberant Ty Lee, the exact opposite of Azula that looked none too pleased with her proclamation. "Do ignore her, Lieutenant. I'm allowing this because, as I so aptly stated but a week ago, you may very well be the only competent soldier on this ship, and certainly one of the most dedicated. You deserve something for your efforts at any rate. Most people like to receive just rewards for the risks they take. Consider this yours for your willingness to give your all in the pursuit of my Uncle."

Ty Lee rolled her eyes at Azula's long winded evasive explanation. She was really good at hiding her true intentions under logical pretenses, but she knew better. She was totally curious. Princess and prodigy notwithstanding, she was a teenage girl. She could pretend she didn't care but she wasn't fooling one of her two closest friends.

Xisheng glanced at the table in the center of the room that was strewn with significantly more luxurious foods than he had likely ever eaten. That wasn't what he was worried about though.

"Princess, while I truly appreciate this generosity, it's against protocol to be out of uniform in your presence..."

Wishing for once that people could stop making things so needlessly difficult, Azula simply sat in her chair and refrained from making any exasperated movements. "I was under the impression that the Royal Family dictated protocol. Consider it fine for you to be out of uniform from now on, provided the other guards aren't around to see it."

While Xisheng was slightly against the notion, he had to admit he was also kind of glad that he could lose the helmet every once in awhile. Cool as it was, it did get kind of stuffy in there. "W-well... if you insist Your Highness..."

With both girls sitting at the table, Xisheng felt momentarily self-conscious. Truth be told he hadn't really been around too many girls in the past few years, aside from military soldiers and comrades. He certainly hadn't been near any that were this attractive. Or nobles for that matter. But he was under orders here, albeit indirectly. Furthermore, he'd have to be a real idiot to refuse an extraordinary event like this one. It wasn't everyday a member of the Royal Family invited a common soldier to something like this.

With that in mind, Xisheng tried to school his features into something neutral before making to remove his helmet. And while he tried not to be obvious about his own observation, he nevertheless gauged the reactions of his audience as he lifted the protective gear from his head.

Whatever crossed Azula's face was hard to interpret. All Xisheng could really tell was that it wasn't disappointment. It seemed to be something positive, or at least not negative. Unfortunately a vague neutral expression was hardly more reassuring than a negative one.

Thankfully Ty Lee was a lot more expressive, going so far as to blush a little and smile at the same time. "See? I told you Azula. We should have bet money or something, I could have become rich just now."

Xisheng frowned for a second. "You were betting on me? What about me exactly?"

Ty Lee seemed perfectly happy to divulge that exact information. "On whether or not you were-"

Unfortunately, Azula was not. "Debating whether or not you would bear the most common Fire Nation traits. I must say Lieutenant, I've never seen anyone with eyes like yours. You are Fire Nation born, aren't you?"

"Colonial, actually. But my parents were from different countries. I always took that as the explanation for my... disorder."

Ty Lee frowned at his choice of words. "Aw, don't call it a disorder! I think they're really super unique! And they're really beautiful too!"

Xisheng quickly realized that trying to maintain his image as a soldier was a lot more difficult without a helmet to hide his expression. It was significantly harder to hide a blush for one. "Ah, well, that does not change the fact that it's somehow abnormal..."

"Well this room only has abnormal people in it, so who cares? I like them a lot! I think it's really amazing that you have two different colors like that."

Xisheng could only blush further, prompting Azula to cut the exchange short. "If you're done flirting Ty Lee, I would like to eat sometime..."

Her reply came with a pout. "Come on, I wasn't flirting. Those were just honest to goodness compliments! The flirting comes later when you aren't around."

Unable to determine if that was a jest or not, Xisheng decided that it may have been a good idea to get all of this over with before he ended up making a complete and utter fool of himself. So he sat in the only free chair available, hoping it would be enough initiative to get the meal started.

To call the situation awkward was a massive understatement, though it was so for a wide variety of reasons. For one, Xisheng had literally never eaten anything of this quality. Food fit for a Princess was certainly beyond his means in life. Second, he was in a rather casual setting with two women of nobility, one of which was the Princess of his entire country. And finally, he was eating dinner with two extremely good looking girls, one of which had made it more or less clear she thought he was attractive too. Or at least that his eyes were. Maybe everything else was bland.

Either way, he found it difficult to pay attention as Azula spoke of a recent Fire Nation victory over the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu, which also happened to be their current destination. She mentioned something else about a noble family that was governing there that provided Ty Lee with considerable excitement, but Xisheng missed whatever it was specifically because he came upon a new problem a few minutes into the meal: he was feeling especially sick. Downright nauseous really.

It had practically come out of nowhere, but it was growing pretty fast. Might have had something to do with the soup that had ingredients he had probably never even heard of. Now the problem was that he was pretty sure he was going to be sick, and within the next few moments. He certainly wouldn't be able to make it back outside in time to take care of business there, and there was no suitable receptacle in this room.

He could always go to town in his helmet, but he risked making a mess that way regardless. He had one option, and one option only. This room had a window, because when did nobility ever eat without a view? It was Xisheng's only choice. Rising from the table slowly at first but moving faster when he realized he was running out of time, Xisheng made a quick dash for the window, which he thankfully managed to open with enough speed to achieve his objective.

Needless to say his actions confused the girls in the room, though Azula voiced it since Ty Lee didn't even really know his name yet. "Lieutenant, what are you-?"

Her tentative question was cut off when Xisheng heaved over the side of the window, thankfully out of anyone's sight. Of course, it was not like anyone could misinterpret the situation regardless...

Azula stared at the man in the room in shock for a moment before sparing a dubious glance at the spoonful of soup she had halfway to her mouth. "...perhaps the chef needs to go overboard next..."

Worried that Azula may have been seriously considering punishing someone for something that probably wasn't his fault, Xisheng struggled through his horrendous embarrassment to stop her train of thought.

"N-no, Princess, it's not the cook's fault."

"It sure seems to be the cook's fault. You certainly weren't sick this morning or any other time today."

Once he made sure there were no vestiges of his unseemly display left, Xisheng slowly turned back to the room itself, staring at the floor to avoid eye contact. "It's because... well, I haven't eaten anything even remotely close to this in months. Maybe even over a year. I just... I don't think my body is used to food this... exquisite... after all this time."

Azula cocked a curious eyebrow at him. "What exactly are the rations for a front line soldier in the Earth Kingdom Lieutenant?"

"Uh... rice, mostly... occasionally whatever we can scrounge up from the surrounding area, but most front line battlegrounds are stripped of vegetation and animals quickly, so... generally three parts rice, one part whatever else is available..."

"Truly? I can't imagine such a bland diet for so long a time. Still, I suppose there's no use in making you eat anything that will make you sick..."

Xisheng hung his head in shame. Seriously, he had just thrown up in front of the Crown Princess and another lady of nobility. "M-my apologies Princess..."

"Never apologize for things that are outside of your control Lieutenant. It's both unbecoming and illogical."

"Ah, uh, o-of course, Your Highness."

"Well then, all things considered I'd say you're probably better off returning to the regular mess hall for dinner Lieutenant. Not that your company is frowned upon of course, but you certainly aren't going to find anything you can stomach here."

Nodding with some level of remorse because he would be leaving what was technically an extremely lucky situation, Xisheng nevertheless donned his helmet, bowed to his betters, and left the room. He would apparently have to let his body acclimate to something finer than military rations at some point, but tonight was not that point.

The moment Xisheng closed the door behind him, Ty Lee beamed at Azula. "So, no competition, right? I don't have to share?"

Azula smirked back at her. "You can't share things that don't belong to you Ty Lee."

"But Azula, you only own his career. His heart is still fair game."

"You literally just met him. You hardly know anything at all about him."

"That's pretty much the same for you though! You didn't even know what he looked like until ten minutes ago!"

Azula couldn't really refute that one. "Point taken. Let's make another gamble then. Soldierly traits notwithstanding, I bet his personality is garbage, or that he's as romantically dense as Zuko."

"Fine. Then I bet he's a really great guy _and_ he's super intuitive with girls. Are we going to actually bet money on this one?"

"Absolutely not."

"Darn."

* * *

 **I realize re-watching this set of episodes that Azula went from the circus Ty Lee was at all the way to Omashu in the span of one night. At least, that seems to be the case, considering that the proposal to trade Tom-Tom for Bumi was made the night Azula was at the circus, and she arrived in Omashu the next day to actually be present for the trade. I mean, I suppose the circus could have just been really close to Omashu, but that seems kind of unlikely...**

 **Either way, I didn't think it'd be this fun to write these characters. Their personalities mesh so well for perfect banter and dialogue. That said, don't think I've gone ahead and 'smitten' the girls with the protagonist. If you couldn't tell from the contextual tone throughout this chapter, they're mostly joking about that for now.**


	4. A Marksman's Grace

**So, just out of curiosity, which of the three 'bad girls' of Avatar is your favorite? At this point, I appreciate them all equally for the different personas they offer. Of course, fans in general seem to generally ignore Mai, which I think is a real crime. There's a lot more to do with her character than 'ugh, hate everything.'  
**

* * *

Xisheng had buried himself in his training over the course of the next few days, having been thoroughly humiliated after the incident with the Princess and her friend. He still couldn't believe he had made such an unsightly display before them, and even now he was mortified.

Thankfully Azula hadn't made any mention of it whatsoever. In fact she seemed to have entirely forgotten about dinner that day in favor of enacting the next stage of her training curriculum. Having worked out the majority of the basics in the simple things like form and concepts, she was now attempting to actually teach Xisheng new things. Unfortunately, learning anything new from Azula was a grueling process. Like always, she demanded excellence, and it was difficult for someone that was not a prodigy to live up to her standards in any decent time frame. Even so, Xisheng had discovered by now that Azula was far easier to read as a teacher than a general person.

She was rather straightforward as an instructor. She did not expect perfection immediately, but she did expect you to strive for perfection as your end goal. As long as Xisheng gave his very best in learning what she had to teach him, she accepted his progress for what it was. Not that she never criticized him of course. She was harsh in pointing out his flaws, but it was always factual. A simple acknowledgement that he was not perfect yet and that he needed to improve, something that Xisheng knew as well as she did.

The most recent lesson was about accomplishing more with less. Generally speaking, bending a larger amount of an element required more energy and strength. This was especially true for Earth and Water Benders, but when it came to fire this concept was somewhat more subtle. Unlike bending the other elements, which involved the manipulation of outside forces, the source of power for Firebending came almost completely from within the bender. That being the case, the power of a bending inferno was completely relative to the bender's own power.

Azula had made the comparison to a fixed value and a shifting one. In Earthbending, the weight of a boulder did not change regardless of how skilled the bender was. From amateur to master, a five hundred pound boulder was five hundred pounds to anyone that tried to lift it. Firebending was different in the sense that a more powerful Firebender could produce an inferno of a certain size at far less cost than a less skilled Firebender.

Metaphorically, the five hundred pound boulder would only weigh two hundred to a more skilled Firebender than an amateur one. It was a completely relative scale, and it also explained why Azula was as powerful as she was. She could produce infernos of an equal caliber to Xisheng, but at far less expense than him. In that sense a weaker Firebender like Xisheng could never match her in raw power or attrition.

So if Xisheng could learn to regulate his power more effectively, he could begin to create more flames but with less energy. It was the key to fighting powerful enemies or waging prolonged battles.

Unfortunately, Xisheng had not even gotten close to reaching a new level. It was difficult to simply... gain more power. For one, Xisheng didn't even know what that meant. Azula told him that it would happen naturally as he trained. Supposedly all benders gained more strength simply through practice. Their bodies adapted to the flow of chi to be more efficient, or they simply became capable of utilizing more of it. Bending being around as long as it had, there was actually a great deal of knowledge on it throughout the nations.

But Xisheng had not conducted too much research on it. For now, he understood that more training would give him more power, though his current regimen with Azula was difficult. For the past few days they had been pitting their infernos against each other in direct clashes, Xisheng simply giving it his all in an attempt to overpower her. Naturally he had yet to succeed, and even though the training was simple and straightforward, it was far from easy. Unleashing that much power in so short a time frame was truly taxing, especially when you had to compete against a even larger force.

That was why Xisheng was taking advantage of any chance he could to rest. Right now, he was just trying to enjoy some breakfast as the ship sailed forward to their next destination. Unfortunately all he had to eat was rice, since he still couldn't stomach much else. On the bright side he had this little section of the deck to himself. A lot of other Royal Guards were on the deck as well, but they were scattered enough in their activities to avoid bothering Xisheng's alone time, something he didn't get too much of.

"I'm so happy Azula has left you in one piece so far Gohan!"

Startled by the loud and bubbly voice that erupted directly behind him, Xisheng nearly dropped his bowl of rice overboard. Thankfully he managed to save the meal in time, and he turned to face the acrobat that had crept up on him from behind.

"Ah, y-yes, that's fortunate... what... what did you just call me?"

Ty Lee smiled at him without apology. "It's your new nickname! For all the rice."

Xisheng didn't know how much he could breach protocol in this situation, but he felt the need to speak openly. "Ty Lee, please don't call me that..."

The brunette's beaming smile just grew even wider. "Sorry, no can do. I've already settled on it, and I think it fits really well."

"So you're seriously going to call me 'rice' just because of my eating habits?"

"Yes Gohan, yes I am."

Xisheng was about to resist further, but Azula walked by him on her way to the center of the deck. "Stop whining Gohan, we have a lot of practice to do."

Ty Lee giggled at the defeated expression on Xisheng's face as he turned to follow the Princess to the largest part of the deck for their training. On the bright side, at least he knew Azula was calling him that just to antagonize him.

* * *

The following day, Azula's ship docked at a new harbor in the Earth Kingdom, and the Princess disembarked with an actual portion of her retinue. Roughly half of the Royal Guards accompanied her off of the Barge along with her palanquin, and of course Xisheng and Ty Lee were there. While Xisheng had initially been ignorant of their objective, the ever talkative Ty Lee had informed him of their plans quickly enough.

"...and that's why we're heading to Omashu to rescue Mai from certain death."

With his helmet actually equipped considering the situation, Xisheng cocked an eyebrow at the girl that flipped and cartwheeled on the road to Omashu alongside him. "But... we control Omashu now and this girl is supposedly the daughter of the new governor. What is there to save her from?"

"Oh Gohan-"

"Please stop that."

"No. Anyway, as I was saying, you'll get what I mean when we see her. She's probably thought about jumping off a roof at least once a day since the occupation started. You know what she'll probably say when we get there? 'I'm bored, please kill me, there's nothing to do here, my aura is gray and dingy and I hate everything, bleh."

Xisheng's look of confusion amplified, though it was of course still hidden. "That sounded... overly harsh for someone who is supposedly one of your best friends..."

Ty Lee shot him one of her usual blinding smiles as she began walking on her hands. "Well of course, it was just a joke. I mean, she _will_ probably say a lot of that stuff, but that's just who she is. She doesn't really have a passion for anything, so-"

"That can't be true."

Surprised at the rather blunt interruption, Ty Lee glanced up at the soldier that was walking beside her. "What do you mean?"

Returning the hazel gaze he was offered, Xisheng shrugged. "There's no such thing as not having any passion whatsoever. Everybody cares about _something._ Even if people aren't vocal about it, they have a passion."

"Hm... well, I guess Mai may have a passion for knives."

"Uh, knives...?"

"Yep. And arrows, and daggers, and blades of any shape and size really. Let's just keep it simple and say anything that can pierce, cut, gut, slash, or gouge the human body."

Xisheng gulped as he tried to picture the kind of psycho Ty Lee was describing to him. He had been kind of eager to see what other kind of company Azula had kept when she was a child, but all of a sudden he was feeling a little anxious about it. What kind of madwoman were they going to fetch today...?"

* * *

"Please tell me you're here to kill me."

As always, Xisheng gave silent praise for the helmet that hid his face. For one, it allowed him to hide his incredulous and confused expression upon hearing these words. Secondly, and more importantly, it also hid his relative gawking. The girl they had come to fetch, Mai, was extremely severe. Xisheng could tell that much even though he had just laid eyes on her. But it was a graceful seriousness, and definitely a beautiful one. She had piercing eyes of a dull amber that held sharpness and wit to them, and her raven hair had even more of a total darkness to it than Azula's did. Xisheng had a thing for dark hair, and he had to admit that Mai's was quite beautiful.

Either way, there was a moment of awkward silence in which Xisheng had trouble telling how serious Mai was, but she soon cracked the slightest of grins for her friends to see that indicated she was joking. It was strange, since she did not seem to be the joking type.

Even so, she was quickly greeted by a hug from both of her friends, though Ty Lee's was naturally more enthusiastic. "It's so good to see you again, Mai!"

"You too Ty Lee. But I'm surprised you're here at all, I thought you had found your calling in the circus or something."

The acrobat finally released her hold on the friend she was seeing for the first time in many years, nearly a full minute after Azula had done the same. "I did honestly, but Azula needs my help on a very important mission. I can always go back when this is all done, but this is something Azula needs my help with now."

Mai glanced over at her other present friend and Princess. "I'm assuming you're here to recruit me for this mission of yours too? Please tell me you are."

Azula smirked at her. "Come now Mai, you don't even know what the mission is. Besides, why would you possibly want to leave such a comfy position here in the city to go traipsing about with me in the countryside?"

The night haired girl glared slightly at her for even asking questions with such obvious answers. "I would rather do anything than sit around here for another day. And you know damn good and well that nothing, absolutely nothing is more boring than a political position. You know what I do all day around here? I laze around, twirling my knives until my Dad needs me to appear as a member of the governor's perfect family. We can go camping in the backwoods of the Earth Kingdom for all I care. Please, just take me with you."

This completely deadpan yet totally earnest plea from her earned a giggle from Ty Lee and an even wider smirk from Azula, the latter of which shrugged. "Well, while I do so hate to bring you on so harsh an adventure, who am I to say no? Unfortunately my objective isn't nearly so plebeian as camping. We're hunting my Uncle... and Zuko."

Mai's body visibly stiffened for the briefest of moments, but she quickly relaxed into some semblance of control. "News of your Uncle has spread this far already, but this is the first time I've heard about Zuko. What happened?"

The Crown Princess folded her arms as a more somber expression took over her features. "Well on a technicality he attacked a member of the Royal Family and he aided a fugitive in escaping from Fire Nation custody. Unofficially, Iroh's sunk his claws into him and he's confused. Don't worry Mai; I have no intention of bringing in my brother unless it becomes a necessary last resort."

Listening to all of this, Mai uttered a long, drawn out sigh. "Zuko confused? Why am I not surprised? But you really think your Uncle is leading him on?"

"Almost certainly. He's likely been spewing nonsense in Zuko's ear for the last few years. It's no surprise that dear Zuzu has been swayed considering Iroh has been the only major influence he has had all this time. But I believe I have already put some doubt into his mind regarding the trust he has placed in the man. If we're lucky, the next time we see Zuko he'll have figured out where his loyalties lie."

Mai's gaze narrowed as she heard this. "And is that the reason you want to bring me along? Hoping that Zuko will be more likely to come quietly if I'm there?"

The Princess shrugged, unfazed by the mild accusation. "I'll admit that I have considered that as a benefit, but ultimately there's no guarantee that we'll have such an advantage. It has been over three years Mai, and the two of you were quite young before he was exiled..."

These words caused Mai to scowl, prompting Ty Lee to make an intervention of some sort. "Azula, is that really necessary...?"

Surprisingly, Mai cut her off. "No, she's right Ty Lee. We weren't even really a thing before he left. There's no point in expecting him to really care after all this time."

"But Mai-"

"We'll see how things stand when we see him again Ty Lee. That's all there is to it."

Suitably cut off from that tangent, Azula moved onto another. "So, while I would like to get underway with my own mission as quickly as possible, I've heard reports of resistance fighters here in Omashu. If the situation is yet to be quelled, I would like to speak to your father."

Mai cringed just slightly at the mention of it. "About those rebels..."

She began leading Azula towards the palace that her father had taken residence in as governor, leaving Xisheng with Ty Lee. "She's certainly..."

"Strange? Weird? Unusual?"

"Unique."

"Aw, Gohan, you're so sweet, using such nice words to describe her! You can be brutally honest you know, I won't tell."

Xisheng rolled his eyes as he began to follow the other guards after the Princess. "I could have some sweeter things to say about you if you'd stop calling me that..."

The girl trailed after him with a smile on her face. "Just because you don't say them doesn't mean you aren't thinking them Gohan..."

Rather than fight a futile battle, Xisheng simply sighed to himself, concluding that there really was no way to win against a girl of this nature.

* * *

"So, let's make sure I have this scenario right."

Ukano, the recently appointed governor of Omashu, swallowed hard as he prepared to listen to Azula's retelling of events in the city during the last few days. He and his wife were both uneasy facing the Fire Nation Princess, especially since they had not been expecting her. At least Mai seemed calm, but when did she ever seem flustered?

As for Azula, she was trying to wrap her head around the incompetence that had been displayed here in the past few days as she reclined on the chair she had more or less commandeered from the governor.

"Not only did you not make it a top priority to root out the enemy resistance fighters that were plaguing the city, but you let them all escape thanks to a stunt that involved a fabricated illness that you did not bother to check the validity of with a doctor. Moreover, even if you did believe it was real, you decided to let them just walk out of Omashu, rather than quarantine them in a sector of the city for further investigation. Or, if it was absolutely necessary, it didn't occur to you to just burn the pestilence away with the hundreds of Firebenders under your command here? I do believe that is what you're telling me."

Ukano bowed his head as low to the floor as he could manage. "F-forgive me your Highness, but the troops panicked under the threat of a plague..."

Azula likely would have continued her verbal lashing if Mai didn't have something to say. "To be fair Azula, the gate guards let them out of the city without any orders. There wasn't enough time to tell them to contain the threat."

The Crown Princess sighed in frustration. While she would never admit it, she had actually grown accustomed to Xisheng's competence as a soldier. She had almost forgotten that there were still plenty of incompetent simpletons in the army.

"Well, nothing can be done about that now. But as for this trade of hostages you are planning..."

While she would never speak up against the Princess under normal circumstances, Mai's mother did so now. "Princess, they have our son. We can't let the rebels keep him, he's just a toddler!"

"Indeed, he _is_ just a toddler. And you want to exchange the King of Omashu for him, an extremely powerful Earthbender and a grave threat to our forces."

Though she was nowhere near as open about it as her parents, Mai still didn't like where Azula may have been going with this. "Azula, you aren't suggesting-"

Already knowing what Mai was going to ask, Azula cut her off. "Not to worry Mai, I'm not suggesting that we just let the enemy keep your brother. But there are far better ways to go about this than making a completely one-sided exchange."

The governor still did not look convinced. "But they have demanded King Bumi..."

"Leave the negotiations to me, governor. I will get your son back, and at no great cost to ourselves while I'm at it."

"T-t-thank you, your Highness..."

Off to the side, Xisheng stood next to Ty Lee, something that was starting to become quite typical in these situations. Neither of them was well-versed in the political trappings of the world, so they often found themselves as little more than passive observers to Azula's machinations.

"The Princess is quite capable of controlling the conversation..."

Ty Lee traded her usual beaming smile for a slight grin since the prior may have been a bit out of place in their situation. "You didn't really just figure that out, did you?"

"Of course not, it was obvious the very first time I spoke to her."

This brief tangent may have continued a bit longer, if the Princess did not descend from King Bumi's stolen throne. "If I remember correctly the trade is supposed to occur in just over an hour. Let us go ahead and make the necessary preparations for a smooth... 'exchange.' Governor, take me to King Bumi."

"O-of course, your Highness."

* * *

If there was one thing Azula respected, it was genius. She knew that she was far from the only gifted individual in the world, and that others had been blessed with prodigious talents as well. That said, she had heard of King Bumi, the supposedly legendary tactical genius, but in light of recent events she found herself questioning his title.

She stood alone in the chamber in which King Bumi had been imprisoned, staring at the steel coffin he was encased in, which covered every part of him save his wrinkled face. Thankfully the governor had at least been smart enough to place him in a room devoid of stone, as Fire Nation engineers had covered everything in this small square space in steel. To his credit though, Bumi did not seem concerned. Of course, that could have just been because he was insane.

She briefly wondered if she should have brought Xisheng along so she could make a lesson out of this, but she reminded herself that she was his teacher as a Firebender more than anything else. He would have to take notes on anything else he wished to learn from her when he was in her presence. For now, she wished to converse with the Mad King alone, which was why everyone else was outside of the chamber making other preparations that she had commanded.

For now she would focus on the conversation she was about to have with the old geezer that had greatly disappointed her so far, despite this being their first encounter.

"So, I finally get to meet the exalted king of Omashu, alleged tactical genius... I must say, I expected someone a little more... sane."

The mad king snorted and cackled, producing sounds that made Azula want to set his hair on fire. "So rude, for royalty to greet each other with insults. To what do I owe the honor of this visit Princess?"

"Honestly this is a friendly visit. I have no need to speak to you, but I find myself doing so because I am curious. You see, reports from the general that took your city state that he marched in without any resistance whatsoever. And while I would like to simply be grateful for the swift victory, I cannot help but ask: why? What could have possibly possessed you to surrender without so much as a single iota of resistance?"

Bumi wrinkled his nose in some sort of distaste. "Why you ask? I just didn't feel like fighting that day. You see, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning and you know what they say-"

Irritated by this nonsense, Azula didn't suffer it. "Cut the tripe, you fool. You and I both know your feigned insanity is a ploy to make your foes underestimate you. Either that, or you truly are insane. So which is it?"

The deposed king frowned back at her, not used to being stopped cold so quickly. "Or, a little of both perhaps? There's a fine line that divides genius and insanity..."

"Indeed there is. But that line is whether or not something works. Needless to say allowing us to march in unopposed _didn't_ work, making you insane, not a genius."

Bumi smirked at her. "Or did it? The entire battle passed without a single casualty for my people. I'd say it worked quite well."

"Yet you've lost control of the city and handed over a vital stronghold to your enemies, when you could have easily defeated them or at least inflicted heavy damage upon them. You had the high ground, and destroying the bridge that leads to the city would have forced the Fire Nation forces to climb the slopes to even reach Omashu. Dispatching them at that point would have been simple for a defending force made up of Earthbenders."

"Not all battles are won with weapons and soldiers your Highness. It wasn't the right time for a fight. I will liberate my city when the time is right."

Azula shook her head as she scoffed at the man. "Perhaps there would not be a city to liberate were you not such a fool. But I digress: your senility has greatly improved our situation. Now Ba Sing Se is the last stronghold we must conquer to win this war, and you yourself may have planted the seeds of our victory. But for now, we have something more important to attend to. Your city's resistance is attempting to have you freed, and I doubt we can have any sort of trade without you actually present."

Bumi looked perturbed by this news, but said nothing on the matter. Azula could only assume that his own resistance forces were throwing a wrench into some sort of plan of his, but she did not care for that. After all, in one of the many outcomes this day could have, King Bumi would not even survive it.

* * *

There was a certain dramatic flair to having an exchange like this one on the scaffolding surrounding the statue of Ozai being constructed. Or at least, Xisheng thought so. Moreover, he questioned why a statue was being erected this soon after the battle. Surely there were more important things they could put their time and resources into, but then again, Omashu was one of the few Earth Kingdom cities that wasn't rolling in corruption and poverty. Good military leader or not, Bumi at least kept things in far better order than Ba Sing Se.

Either way, the grounds for the trade was what it was, unusual or not, but what was strange for Xisheng was the scrutiny with which he was being observed by the newest member of Azula's flunkies. Of course, he was absolutely positive that it wasn't a flattering analysis, as Mai did not seem the type for it, and even if she were he was still fully armored.

That said, as the four of them stood among the scaffolding, waiting for the arrival of the resistance negotiators, Xisheng could do nothing but suffer her piercing gaze in silence. Eventually though Mai broke her dedicated vigil to pose a question to Azula. "I understand why you might bring some of your guards as backup, but why did you only bring one?"

Azula glanced over her shoulder curiously, Mai not being one that asked too many questions, but before she could offer any response Ty Lee essentially tackled Xisheng with a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck. "This is no ordinary soldier Mai! This is Gohan, Azula's personal pupil!"

Xisheng made it halfway to clarifying that his name was not in fact what Ty Lee claimed it to be, but Mai cocked an eyebrow at Azula first. "Seriously? You took on a student? That's got to be a joke."

"Oh, it's not a joke, Mai. Though it does sound like one coming from Ty Lee."

"Why? What's the point in taking on dead weight like that? He'll just slow us down."

This comment kind of stung, but it actually only caused Azula to smirk. "Really Mai, you think I would take any common rabble as my personal student? I assure you my pupil is no pushover. He won't get in the way. Or at least, he better not."

Azula marked the end of that statement with a glare in Xisheng's direction, though he took it as more of a high expectation as opposed to a threat. Mai simply cast another doubtful look at him, choosing to ignore him after that final glance in favor of looking forward, just in time to spot their quarry in fact.

"Azula."

The Crown Princess turned to face forward once again, and Ty Lee came out of the handstand she had been doing to stand on her feet, allowing the entire troop to focus on what was now before them: a group of kids that Xisheng recognized from personal experience, with a dark haired toddler in the arms of the boy who was clearly of Water Tribe descent.

As the trio of kids approached, Xisheng lowered his voice to speak to the Princess. "Milady, that boy in the orange is the Avatar."

Azula cocked an eyebrow at the approaching monk. "Well, I can't imagine anyone other than an Airbender wearing such garish attire. Make no move against him yet. And let me do all of the talking."

"As you command."

As the two groups got close enough to speak to one another, Azula took the lead, ignoring Tom-Tom's infantile babbling and needy pawing in Mai's direction. He clearly recognized his big sister. "So, the rebel scum actually held onto their end of the bargain. I'm honestly surprised."

Instead of retorting to this, the Avatar, head wrapped in an orange cloth, jabbed a finger at her. "Where's Bumi?! What have you done with him?!"

Azula frowned at the bluntness. "So uncivilized. Worry not, that senile old coot is present."

The Crown Princess snapped her fingers, and King Bumi was lowered to their position by a pulley, still encased in a steel coffin. Xisheng could only assume that some engineers somewhere had been stationed for this purpose. Unfortunately, they had not gone out of their way to gag the old man.

"Helllloooo everybody! Did you miss me?"

Surprisingly, Azula mumbled to herself quietly enough for the Avatar's group not to hear. "Not in the slightest..."

Ignoring her, King Bumi took a gander at his surroundings, as well as he could at any rate, and turned his gaze on Xisheng when he finished. "My my, aren't you the lucky one? Three pretty girls to keep you company at night."

Xisheng blundered in his response, not dense enough to miss the implication being made or the visual it presented him with. The sight of it got a giggle out of Ty Lee, but the more reserved girls ignored it for the situation at hand.

Completely unaware of the brief exchange, the Water Tribe boy holding Tom-Tom made to place the toddler on the ground. "Alright, we've held up our end of the deal. Let King Bumi out of there."

Azula actually scoffed at his simplicity. "There are a dozen reasons why that would be a terrible idea. But here's the main one; why should I have to trade the King of Omashu for a toddler?"

The Avatar's trio looked taken aback, and Mai's expression became just the slightest bit more negative than neutral. But she was still trusting Azula for the moment.

On the Avatar's side, the only girl in the group seemed agitated by these words. "I should have known the Fire Nation wouldn't value the life of a child over their strategic advantage!"

"Really? Because last time I checked, the 'evil' Fire Nation wasn't the one holding a mere child hostage so they could further their own position. Isn't that right, Avatar?"

For some reason, the Avatar seemed surprised. "W-what? How did you-?"

"You are literally traipsing about in the colors of the Air Nomads, of which you are the last. How could anyone not connect those dots? That being said, I thought you were supposed to be the good guy?"

"I-I am!"

"And yet here you are, holding a three year old hostage all so you can free King Bumi, who I assume you wish to teach you Earthbending. You are holding a child for ransom just so you can advance your own position, and yet you accuse us of being evil?"

Clearly rattled by this accusation, the Avatar had to rely on his male accomplice to answer for him, the boy waving about some primitive club as he accosted them. "Like you're any better! You're holding someone hostage to advance your position too!"

"Indeed we are. A fully grown man who, might I add, willingly surrendered to us and our custody. Tell me, did Tom-Tom wave a white flag for you? Give an eloquent speech explaining his surrender perhaps?"

The Avatar faltered even further, though his allies did not. The Water Tribe girl was especially vehement. "We're not going to fall for your tricks. If anything, you're just making it obvious how desperate you are-"

"No."

Cut off by the Avatar himself, the girl turned to him. "What?"

The Airbender was staring at the ground, grip tight on his staff. "She's right Katara. We're supposed to be the good guys, aren't we? What we're doing here is wrong!"

"But Aang, what about Bumi?"

As if his name was an invitation to talk, Bumi did exactly that. "Don't you worry about me Aang. You're doing the right thing. Besides, this contraption is actually kinda comfy. It could use a little renovation, but..."

Wanting to stop him before he started to ramble, Azula cut the old man off. "So, what will it be, Avatar? Contrary to popular belief, I do have quite a lot to do."

Aang furrowed his brow in consternation for a moment, but ultimately Azula had read him all too well. "Let's just give him back guys. It's the right thing to do."

His allies both gave him a questioning look, but in the end they nodded their agreement with his choice, the boy lowering Tom-Tom to the ground so the toddler could take some faltering steps towards his sister. Mai crouched down to scoop him up in her arms when he got close enough, and Azula stopped their hostile negotiators before they even thought to leave.

"So, onto our next order of business..."

Katara glared at her. "We have no other business. Don't even think about it."

"Come now, you didn't think I would just let the most dangerous risk to my nation's cause walk away from me did you? And from a city under Fire Nation control no less? Surrender. It's the easiest for all of us."

As if naturally more hostile just because her opponent was a woman, Katara snapped at her. "You think we're going to just roll over and give up because you said so?"

"Of course not... I expect you to surrender for the greater good. You see, normally I would threaten the citizens of the city itself, but a certain someone allowed most of them to leave. So I'll have to make do with what I have: this senile dustbin that you seem to care about so much. So here's the deal. You surrender completely and unconditionally or I test the conductivity of Bumi's metal coffin with a little lightning. Or perhaps toss him off the edge of the scaffolding. Or even just let Mai stab him in the face. Whatever works."

Azula's ultimatum earned a myriad array of reactions from everyone assembled. Naturally, Mai didn't seem to care at all, her expression a perfect mask of neutrality. Ty Lee looked shocked that such a grave threat was being issued. Xisheng's face was hidden of course, but he had no qualms with the Princess' tactically adept move. On the other side the Water Tribe natives were either gritting their teeth or glaring icy daggers at them, but the Avatar just seemed conflicted. And his reaction was the most important one.

As before, Katara was determined to keep the situation between them hostile. "Don't listen to her Aang, she's bluffing! It's just a trick!"

Knowing full well that the largest influence when it came to pressure was time, Azula made sure to bring it to bear. "You have ten seconds to comply Avatar. Otherwise he dies."

Now provided with an extremely sparse time frame to make his decision, Aang found it almost impossible to reach a conclusion of any sort. Naturally he wanted to do whatever it took to save Bumi, but both Katara and Sokka were telling him not to do it. And of course he knew that the fate of the world was in his hands, but what would be the point of saving the world if he couldn't even save one of his closest friends?

Unfortunately Aang wasn't used to situations this dire at all. His mind was moving far too fast for his mouth, and he was stuttering and floundering and altogether failing to say what he needed to say. Being a woman of her word, Azula merely shrugged as the time limit she had set passed. "So be it then."

The Crown Princess conjured one of her sapphire flames in her palm, turning to face Bumi's cage with the clear intent to strike written on her face. To his credit, Bumi himself did not look overly perturbed. Then again, when you got to be as old as he was, surely you came to expect death on any given day, from old age if nothing else.

Even Ty Lee could tell that Azula was serious, shielding her eyes from the approaching violence, but there was no need to. Azula was only halfway through launching her fatal attack when the Avatar sprung into action.

"No!"

While Aang's cry of opposition was basic, it was punctuated by a massive blast of wind that rocketed all four of the Fire Nation natives away from Bumi's prison. Sent flying, Xisheng decided against simply recovering to save himself and made to assist Mai, since she was unable to use her hands with Tom-Tom cradled securely in her arms. She'd have a hard time landing on her feet with such a burden.

Using the force of of his Firebending to correct his flight a little sooner than his non-bending counterparts, Xisheng managed to plant his boots on solid ground just in time to catch Mai in his arms, though the force of her impact made him skid a few more feet. He briefly noted Ty Lee careening a bit farther past him before she managed to catch herself as well.

"Are you alright milady?"

While normally not one to show gratitude, Mai decided she at least owed him that much since he had helped protect Tom-Tom as well. "I'm fine. Thanks."

Even so, that was all she offered before getting to her own feet. Gratitude or not, it was sparse. Xisheng hoped it was because she was just a somber individual and not because she was actively hostile towards him. Either way, he didn't have long to think about it since Ty Lee was in his ear a second later.

"Hey! Why didn't you catch me?!"

Genuinely confused, Xisheng cocked an eyebrow at her underneath his helmet. "You're an extremely skilled acrobat, I knew you would be fine. And Lady Mai was holding her brother."

The currently ex-circus performer blushed. "Aw, you had faith in me, huh? Still, catch me next time! I want to be in the arms of a strong guy too! Mai didn't even appreciate it!"

The two of them glanced towards the aforementioned girl just in time to see her pinning Tom-Tom to the floor of the scaffolding with two knives through his pants. "Don't wander off this time."

The young child simply uttered some unintelligible gibberish in reply, but as he tried to move it seemed that he was well and truly stuck. She must have driven those knives in pretty deep. All of that aside, Azula had recovered in the same manner that Xisheng did, and she was already moving forward to engage the enemy. "Don't just stand there! Xisheng, with me! Mai, Ty Lee, get the other two!"

Xisheng rushed forward to assist his teacher, who was heading directly for the Avatar that was likewise rushing for Bumi in some attempt to free him from his bondage. Still, he called out to the other girls as they moved towards their own fight. "Watch out for the Avatar's Sky Bison! It has to be around here somewhere!"

He missed the incredulous expression that briefly crossed Mai's face at the mention of a 'Sky Bison,' instead following Azula's lead as she leaped over the steel coffin Bumi rested in to launch a flaming blue kick at the rapidly approaching Airbender. Aang was forced to leap backwards to avoid it, but even as he landed he had to repeat the maneuver to dodge a typical orange blast that came from Xisheng. Azula gave him a brief look of curiosity as he landed beside her.

"This may be a little off-topic, but how much experience do you have fighting in tandem Xisheng?"

"I was in the Army Your Highness. It's all fighting in tandem."

As for Mai and Ty Lee, they had a more interesting battle to wage. Even without actually facing him yet, Mai could tell that the Water Tribe boy was far from an experienced warrior, and definitely far from a threat. It was obvious that he had strength, but he had no real training. The clumsiness of his movements made that obvious. As for the girl, she had the fluidity of movement that pointed to real training, but she didn't have the sure steps of experience. She was young after all, and it was unlikely she had fought in too many truly serious conflicts.

Then again, it was not as if Mai was a seasoned veteran herself. She had hardly fought in any real battles. But she had been training with her myriad array of weapons for years. Since she was eight actually, and that many years of practice ensured that she moved with the skill and grace of an experienced warrior. Lucky for her throwing sharp things had been a halfway decent cure for boredom during her childhood, or she'd be nowhere near as skilled as she was now.

All things considered, Mai decided to ignore her male adversary in favor of launching an array of her knives at Katara. Unfortunately they were all blocked by a wall of ice, but she had not expected immediate success. Besides, she was just covering Ty Lee's approach.

The acrobat was speeding as quickly as she could towards Katara, knowing that it was her job to disable the bender more than anything else. Normally she would attempt a lot more dodging and weaving in her approach, but Mai was doing an excellent job of keeping Katara's attention with a rain of very pointy objects. Skilled as she had become through her tenure under Pakku, Katara still couldn't counter two opponents at once.

That said Ty Lee had an easy approach, one that wasn't made any more difficult by the clumsy swing of a club along the way. She leaped over that with ease, twirling through the air in a manner truly befitting of her station, and landed right next to Katara, who barely had time to use her Waterbending to carry her away from a chi-blocking fist.

"Oh, come on! I just put a ton of work into getting over here!"

Instead of receiving any sort of apology for dodging her attack, Katara sent back a deadly icicle spear, though Ty Lee had no issue sidestepping it.

"Hey, rude!"

"I could say the same to you!"

Back on Azula's end of things, she was pleasantly surprised to find that Xisheng was quite adept at working together with her. She didn't have to give him any special instructions even. He simply read her movements and followed her lead as efficiently as he could manage, which was quite well considering his recent yet thorough training with her. Every time the Avatar dodged one of Azula's attacks, the place he dodged to was filled with orange flame. Xisheng worked in nigh perfect harmony as far as boxing in the Avatar was concerned, which was critical considering how evasive of a fighter he was. So far the entire fight had been the Avatar on defense. He hadn't even managed to strike back yet.

"I must say Xisheng, you continue to impress me even now. I recognized your prowess in single combat but you're quite capable on a team as well."

Xisheng subconsciously noted that Azula was calling him by name rather than his rank. "Thank you, Your Highness. I'm glad to be able to serve so well."

"Well, I'm certainly looking forward to the exercises we can try now that we have Mai and Ty Lee as well. I'm quite looking forward to it."

The Avatar took this break in the attack to make a quip of his own. "That sounds fun. You guys should go do that!"

Azula turned to launch more of her signature dart-like attacks at the boy. "I'm afraid I'll have to politely decline. We'll have plenty of time to do that after you're captured or killed. Either is acceptable."

Deciding that he didn't quite like the way Azula spoke so casually about killing him, Aang swung his stuff in a wide arc that sent a roaring wave of wind at his foes. Unfortunately they both took the brunt of his attack with their Firebending, but it at least gave Aang enough time to take stock of the situation. To say the least, the fight between his friends and Azula's allies was not going well. Sokka had already had both arms paralyzed, courtesy of Ty Lee after he had tried to attack her with his club again. Now he was just trying to flip, flop, and flounder around all of the dangerous pointy things Mai was throwing at him.

As for Katara, she was being pressured by Ty Lee in close quarters, just barely managing to stay out of range of her knuckles with swipes of water or thin walls of ice. She attempted to retaliate with water whips and even more lethal icicle spears, but Ty Lee always managed to contort her body at some extreme angle to dodge them no matter how Katara attempted to make contact.

In short, it was bad. Bad enough for Sokka to voice as much. "Aang, we need to get out of here! We're getting our butts kicked!"

No one had the heart to point out that only Sokka had gotten his butt kicked so far, so Aang instead pointed out his unwillingness to leave. "Not without Bumi! We can't leave him here!"

Well aware that Aang and his allies were completely disadvantaged here, Bumi called out to him. "It's fine Aang! I can take care of myself, you can't win here!"

Still attempting to burn holes in the Avatar's glider as Xisheng boxed him towards the ground with wider arcs of flame, Azula smirked. "King Bumi actually offering sound, logical, advice? The world may as well end now."

Jokes aside, the situation went from bad to worse when Ty Lee front flipped over the next water whip that came her way, striking Katara in the shoulder as she sailed over her. The Waterbender's arm immediately went limp, and the water it had been manipulating splashed to the ground uselessly.

"My arm!"

Sokka ran to her side, his arms still completely worthless at his own flanks. "Welcome to the club. Now what?!"

Ty Lee flipped away from her adversary to stand by Mai, who had already armed her right hand with plenty more weapons. "Now you surrender or get turned into pincushions. I hope you barbarians are at least smart enough to figure that one out."

Instead of giving any sort of snarky reply, Katara whipped another gush of water at Mai, encasing her right hand in ice and thoroughly neutralizing the threat of any weapons in that hand. To her credit, Mai barely glanced at the block of ice now entrapping her slender fingers, instead choosing to slip a thin needle into the palm of her left hand.

"Suit yourself."

Snapping the projectile at her too fast for Katara to intercept with her good arm neutralized, the Waterbender took the needle straight to the shoulder, splotching her blue attire with a spot of red. Surprisingly, her brother seemed more concerned at this development than Katara herself did, the Waterbender taking all of the liquid she had to form a thin yet sturdy barrier of ice between her position and Mai's.

"Aang, this is getting really bad! We have to run!"

While he was still busy bobbing and weaving through a literal firestorm, Aang nevertheless managed to glance between his new friends and his old one. He had no desire to leave Bumi here in Omashu with the Fire Nation, but the longer they stayed the more he risked something happening to Katara and Sokka.

"Bumi... I'm sorry!"

Still trapped as always, Bumi smiled at the boy. "Don't worry Aang. You just get out of here, I'll be fine!"

Despite his reluctance to leave, Aang went through the motions necessary to organize his escape, forming a powerful cyclone of air with his bending prowess that protected him from the immediate Firebending threat and giving him enough time to turn tail and sprint away from Azula and Xisheng. Once the residual flames faded enough for Azula to take stock of the situation, she noted with dismay that the Avatar's impressive speed had already placed him out of her immediate effective range.

"Mai, stop him!"

Taking the command to heart, Mai unleashed a hail of razor discs at the boy, throwing them with pinpoint interception accuracy that would have made for a series of clean hits, if only the Avatar didn't turn in his sprint just long enough to blast the projectiles away with his Airbending. This now posed the problem of several deadly projectiles soaring towards Azula's retinue, but thankfully all four of them had good enough reflexes to escape injury. Unfortunately, by the time they managed that, the Avatar and his comrades had already leaped over the edge of the scaffolding that was their battleground. Before any one of them could reach the edge of said scaffolding to see what had become of them, that Sky Bison Xisheng had mentioned rose over the edge, roaring at them in defiance as it carried their foes.

By the time Azula's troop reached the edge of the scaffolding, the Avatar's bison was already turning away from them to escape the city. Mai launched an arrow from some sort of launcher at it, catching the animal's hind leg, but it was Azula that conjured lightning around her fingertips in an attempt to fry their adversaries and blast them out of the sky. Unfortunately the animal she was targeting was much faster than it looked, and it was already a significant distance away when Azula unleashed the bolt of lethal energy she had created. The bluish white lance arced across the sky and came far too close for the comfort of the bison's occupants, but ultimately it passed its target harmlessly, and they were too far by then for Azula to try again.

The Crown Princess merely huffed in annoyance as she watched their prey escape, but Xisheng took it upon himself to conjure a controlled flame in his hand so he could assist Mai with the block of ice around hers. Honestly he was surprised that the way she was glaring at it in annoyance hadn't melted the thing already.

"Milady, use this."

Mai gave the flame in his hands one glance before holding her frozen limb over it, but Xisheng received no thanks for his efforts this time. Behind them, Bumi cackled in his coffin.

"Looks like you've got a real Ice Queen on your hands there boy! Get it? Get it?! Hahahahahaha!"

Everyone except Ty Lee sighed in distaste at that one.

* * *

Having engaged the Avatar so late during the day, Azula decided that they would spend the night in Omashu before moving on to their next destination the following day, which happened to be information that she was keeping to herself for now. No surprise there.

One way or another, she and Ty Lee were now resting in the room Ukano had provided to the Princess as accommodations for the night, with Xisheng present as well at the Princess' insistence. As per the instructions she had already given some day prior, he was without his helmet, much to Ty Lee's not so subtle delight. She was very straightforward about what she liked, having a pleased smile and a definitely appreciative gaze for the only male in the room.

Still unused to such attention from a girl, Xisheng tried to ignore it in favor of listening to what Azula was saying. "It seems the Avatar's penchant for cowardice is the same as it was back at the North Pole. This fight hardly ended up being more than a scuffle."

Ty Lee smiled as she rested her chin in her palms. "If you could even call it that. You were amazing out there Gohan, fighting the Avatar so well!"

Still uncomfortable with the attention being given to him, Xisheng turned it away as best he could. "Ah, w-well, I think Lady Mai was very impressive. She's uh, v-very skilled and, um, collected."

Ty Lee pouted in disappointment hearing Xisheng's praise go to Mai when she wasn't even here, but she didn't complain about it since it would be kind of shallow. Besides, Xisheng had already expressed confidence and appreciation for her acrobatic skills. He thought she was cool too.

As for Azula, she didn't care where the praise went, though she did have some to offer herself. "Everyone performed admirably, but I must say Lieutenant, I was suitably impressed by your efficiency in a team. It's been a long time since I've had someone I could actually look forward to fighting alongside."

Ty Lee had the presence of mind to be offended. "Hey!"

"I meant another Firebender Ty Lee. It's different than working together with you and Mai. And before you ask, no I don't mean different as in better, I just mean different."

Ty Lee frowned anyway, but said nothing as Xisheng gave his gratitude for Azula's praise. "Thank you Princess, but I'm sure I could improve..."

"Well of course you could. So could we all, though all of you more than me..."

Now it was Xisheng's turn to be offended, but he decided to simply take the compliments he could get.

With all of that out of the way, Azula moved onto a new tangent. "Either way, without the Avatar around it should be simple for Governor Ukano to hunt down and recapture those resistance fighters that escaped on his watch. After that's accomplished I imagine it'll be the usual grind of converting this backwards city to some state of respectable civilization."

Leaning back in the chair she occupied, Ty Lee glanced over at her friend that sat on the king sized bed the suite offered. "I dunno Azula, Omashu doesn't actually seem that bad off. Compared to other Earth Kingdom cities and towns it's not bad at all. And I've seen a lot of those towns to compare it too while in the circus."

"Perhaps, but there are still issues to be addressed. I'll be the first to admit that Omashu is far better off than some of its neighbors, but there is still a sizable population of impoverished and hungry. Not to mention that we'll have to get the city to willingly accept our rule. A conquered city is more trouble than gain as long as it has a resistance."

Forgetting about his embarrassment for a moment in the face of all this political discussion, Xisheng interjected. "In that case it may be a bad idea to bring those resistance fighters back Princess. Bringing them back into the city will only solidify the base of opposition here."

"Perhaps, but if we let them go free it's practically guaranteed that they'll join up with another Earth Kingdom force. To leave them at large is paramount to endangering our own soldiers, wouldn't you say?"

When she put it like that, Xisheng could only agree. "I-I suppose so, Your Highness..."

"Good. Now, I plan on us leaving for our next destination quite early in the morning, so if you don't mind..."

Not catching onto the implication immediately, Xisheng simply stared at her for a moment, which prompted a cocked eyebrow from the Princess. "I do hope you didn't take that senile old fool's words to heart..."

Remembering a certain comment about spending the night with pretty girls, Xisheng's face flushed in embarrassment, spurring him to make his exit as quickly as possible. "O-o course not Your Highness. I-I'll take my leave now..."

He bowed to the Princess, then bowed to Ty Lee as well just to be polite, earning him a girly wave and a wink for his trouble, which did nothing to ease his nerves. Unfortunately, as he turned to leave the room, he opened the door to come face to face with the only member of this feminine trio that had been absent, likely because she had wanted to talk to Azula for some reason herself.

Being scarcely half a foot away from her, Xisheng realized he may have been mistaken regarding the color of Mai's eyes earlier. He had thought they were one of the typical shades of amber most Fire Nation natives had, but now that he was this close to her he saw that they were actually far from ordinary. No, there was a rich blend of a little dark brown and fairly brighter orange to be seen here, equating to a vivid tawny color that was all too easy for Xisheng to lose himself in. Of course, the intensity of this unique color union could have also been in part due to the sharpness and wit that made it stand out even more.

Xisheng was drawn into the lovely color despite his efforts to the contrary, but he nevertheless noticed that their sudden encounter and close proximity gave rise to the most expression Xisheng had seen on Mai's face thus far: she blinked. Then she cocked an eyebrow at him likely because he was just standing there and barring her path.

Realizing that he must have looked like a dumbstruck fool, Xisheng quickly took a step back and bowed to her. "M-my apologies, milady..."

Instead of giving any verbal response, Mai simply stepped to the side and let Xisheng pass her. The ascended soldier wasted no time in retreating away from the room of feminine charm and attractiveness that Mai was about to add her repertoire to, eager to get away after being flustered at nearly every turn. As for Mai, she watched him retreat as she stepped into the room.

"Who was that?"

Ty Lee smirked at her. "Oh, is that interest I'm hearing Mai?"

Ukano's daughter turned to face her, displaying her typical emotionless mask. "Does it look like interest to you?"

"Maybe not to most people, but I know you Mai. You watched him leave and asked about him. You may as well have painted your fascination on a sign and hung it around your neck."

Mai rolled her eyes as she closed the door to the suite Azula had been provided. "Or maybe I'm interested because he's a guy, a soldier, and a soldier out of uniform in Azula's room. That's all sorts of unusual."

Ty Lee stole whatever explanation Azula was going to give with her own voice. "That was Gohan, Azula's new student. Isn't he cute? And he's got such beautiful eyes!"

The knife thrower ignored the question Ty Lee asked for the bit of information she was actually interested in. "That was the soldier you brought with you to the exchange?"

Azula leaned back on her bed. "The same."

"Huh. I guess he's not half bad."

"Slow it down there Mai, I've already got him wrapped around my finger. He can't have two harpies toying with him."

Ty lee folded her arms and gave her friend a disdainful look. "Azula, that's not the type of thing you should be proud of..."

In what was a true rarity considering that she had already done it once today, Mai smirked. "It's what the ruling class does."

Folding her arms behind her head, Azula matched her expression. "And don't you forget it."

* * *

 **All things considered, I've always entertained the idea of Mai being capable of killing literally everyone else on the cast. I mean, think about it: no matter how powerful of a bender you are, how do you defend yourself against an expertly thrown projectile from the shadows? Even with Toph all Mai would have to do is attack her from somewhere outside of her seismic range, and she would never know a projectile was coming. Who can kill the most powerful figures in any universe? Snipers.**


	5. Mercy Forsaken

**In hindsight, its amusing that Mai states how much she hates orange, but she's got more orange in her eyes than any other character. In fact she might be the only one with tawny eyes.  
**

 **Might been easier to notice that if she wasn't always glaring.**

* * *

The morning after the heated conflict with the Avatar, Xisheng found himself thankfully free of Azula's teaching for just one sunrise, for she had more important things to attend to now that she had gathered the special team she had envisioned.

As Xisheng donned his uniform in the confines of the quarters he and the guards had been provided, he couldn't help but question their next move. The more things progressed, the more likely it seemed that Azula was going to do something that, from a Royal Guard standpoint, he couldn't condone.

After all, she had essentially put together a strike team. A small, mobile group of fighters designed to operate in exactly that fashion. But small and fast was the exact opposite of the Royal Procession, what with its barge and fifty Royal Firebenders.

The more Xisheng thought about it, the more it seemed like Azula was going to ditch the procession entirely so she could operate unhindered by their weight and seeming incompetence. And while Xisheng would be the first to admit that the Royal Guards had made complete fools of themselves when they had tried to arrest Iroh, there was still strength in numbers. Having more soldiers around still served to dissuade assassination attempts and the like.

But on the other hand, having that many soldiers around also called attention to themselves. What made it more obvious what the Princess' movements were if not a large boat and a procession of soldiers?

Besides, Xisheng had to admit that he was not lacking in faith regarding Azula's recruits. Ty Lee was clearly a skilled hand to hand combatant, and she had knowledge of some obscure yet very potent techniques. Aside from that she was extremely agile and swift, making for a deadly combination. And Mai? Xisheng had to admit that her abilities scared him a little. Someone as fast and precise as her could be a true menace on the field of battle.

After all, with her skills, if she really put her mind to killing someone, it would be all too easy to do so. One flick of the wrist, and someone had a knife buried in their eye or their throat. Someone like her could easily kill Azula, Ty Lee, and Xisheng in mere seconds if she caught them off guard.

Not that he was worried about something like that. Considering Azula's calculating nature, Xisheng was inclined to trust anyone that she did, if only because Azule didn't give her trust very easily. It was just a theoretical appreciation of the fact that Mai could be very, very deadly if she chose to be.

The phrase 'deadly but beautiful' came to mind, particularly since Mai had a certain grace to her that was absent even from Azula, who had her own majesty. Xisheng smirked to himself as he thought of a way to label them all. Mai and her grace, Ty Lee's acrobatic finesse, and Azula's Firebending majesty. They made a good team, each having their own thing like that. It set them apart, unlike a squad of Firebenders that all had the same training and the same military mindset.

The real question was whether or not Xisheng was included in this little squad Azula had formed. He got the feeling that he might have been, since Azula had gone out of her way to bring him along for the exchange, but then again that could have just been extra insurance on her part if a fight broke out. He didn't have any particular skills like Mai or Ty Lee that made him especially useful for a strike force. He was an all-around average Firebender and not a particular asset in that regard since Azula was already around, so his position on such a team was far from a sure thing.

Either way, Xisheng felt uncomfortable this morning for a different reason. He felt that there was something amiss among his fellow guards, but specifically in regards to him. Even now as he finished equipping all of the appropriate gear, he felt like the other soldiers that were awake right now were all staring at him. Not that it was easy to tell considering that he couldn't see them doing it.

Obviously any time Xisheng tried to catch someone staring their gazes were elsewhere. Even some of the people he had kind of gotten along with like Akuwagata seemed kind of reserved around him now.

Of course it wasn't too hard for Xisheng to determine why this was the case. Obviously his still relatively fresh connection with the Princess was irking the rest of the retinue. It could have been for a myriad of reasons; some of them may have been suspicious of his motives. Others may have thought it was simply inappropriate for him to get as close to the Princess as he was being a common soldier.

Truth be told Xisheng didn't really care. A few weeks ago he would have. He definitely would have lamented the somewhat awkward and tense atmosphere between him and his comrades. But only because they would have been the only people he could connect to.

But now, he had others. Which ultimately struck Xisheng as strange. He viewed the girls as companions in and of themselves, even though in reality they were not. Azula was not just his teacher, but also his Princess. She was his superior, not his friend, and sometimes it was difficult to remember that fact. It was difficult to remember his place all the time because of the way Azula acted. Sure, she was _never_ casual enough with him to give off that 'friendship' vibe, but on the other hand she wasn't so regally detached that she felt solely like some superior figure that never spoke to him outside of giving orders.

As for Mai and Ty Lee, it was easy to remember that the prior was Azula's friend and not his, but Ty Lee well and truly was someone he could consider one. Of course he got the feeling that most anyone could consider Ty Lee a friend because of her nature, but she did go out of her way to make him feel welcome. Hell, she had practically nicknamed him. Of course it was possible that it was just a pet name, but Xisheng got the feeling that was something more suited to Azula than Ty Lee.

Either way, Xisheng wasted no time in leaving the appropriated barracks of the Omashu palace, though he was unsure of where he should go. It wasn't really his place to bother the Princess when she was busy, but she hadn't given him any direction the night before. Xisheng had no idea what the Princess was planning to do; he could only hope that she went out of her way to bring him along if she were planning on leaving as early as she had said she would this morning.

* * *

Elsewhere in the wilderness of the Earth Kingdom, a recently shaven fugitive Prince lied awake in his bedroll under the slowly brightening sky, for a multitude of reasons.

His place of rest was the most uncomfortable he had experienced in a long time. Even exiled, the bed he had possessed on his old ship had been nicer than most well off civilians ever experienced. On top of that, the dull green clothing he wore was rough and itchy, being of a lesser quality than anything he had worn throughout his entire life. And of course, his stomach was growling from the paltry amount of food he had eaten the past few days, which amounted to little more than what could be taken from the land around him.

In short, Zuko was living the life of a fugitive and he outright despised it because he was used to better things. But that was not what troubled him at this early hour. Not at all. Even now, his thoughts lingered on the past, both immediate and long ago.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get Azula's words out of his head. He didn't want to think about them at all, but he had to. He couldn't just ignore his potential problems, and Azula had risen a point Zuko just couldn't run from.

Looking back on his quest for the Avatar, Zuko realized that his Uncle had truly done very little to aid him. Aside from the lack of seriousness he had always handled Zuko's quest with, there were too many things that just didn't add up.

Zuko had spent three years training under the Legendary Dragon of the West as a personal pupil. As his _only_ student. And yet, his skills had never really improved beyond that of an amateur. How could that be? Zuko knew he was not so downright hopeless in Firebending that he could not improve beyond a laughable level. Even as a child he had still progressed at a decent pace that was just overshadowed by his prodigious sister.

So how was it that he could scarcely improve at all with three years of tutelage directly under a Firebending legend? There was only one possibility, and that was that Iroh had been intentionally holding him back.

And then there was Admiral Zhao. After encountering the Avatar, Iroh had placed both him and his nephew in a compromised position by accepting tea of all things with the man, granting him even more chances to interrogate them about what had happened at the South Pole. Almost like he wanted Zhao to find out.

The mere thought of it caused Zuko to grip the edge of his bedroll in anger, but only for a moment as his train of thought flipped on itself once again.

What was he thinking, suspecting Iroh of such things? His Uncle had given up a cushy life of royalty so he could look after his banished nephew on a perilous and distasteful journey around the world. His Uncle was the only person to stay by him when his whole life came crashing down around him. His father had sent him away, his sister had done nothing to dispute that decision, and the girl that had claimed to love him had been perfectly content to watch him depart from the shores of his homeland. Only Iroh had given up what he had to go with him.

The only reason Zuko hadn't improved much under Iroh's tutelage was because his Uncle had wanted him to learn to Firebend the right way. So he could really improve on what mattered. And the tea with Zhao was just Iroh following the polite customs of their people. That made sense.

Zuko nodded to himself now that he had come to that conclusion. Azula always lied. Anything she said that made sense was just being said to manipulate him.

Still, despite this conclusion he had reached, Zuko found that he wasn't able to sleep any more comfortably than he had before.

* * *

Xisheng was staring over the city of Omashu from a high terrace of the palace when Mai found him. Not that she had been looking for him for personal reasons of course. Azula was ready to go and she had more or less sent Mai and Ty Lee on the errand of finding him so they could leave this droll place behind.

Mai hadn't been taking the search too seriously, but even so she had gotten lucky first. Normally she would just relay the news quickly and go about her own business, but Mai made a habit of always analyzing a person if she had the opportunity.

Besides, as much as she hated to admit that Ty Lee was right about, well, anything, the acrobat had been correct in saying that Mai was interested in this individual Azula had taken on as a student. From a purely objective standpoint though. She was simply curious to know what had made Azula pick this person in particular.

Azula never did anything without a good reason, and usually that reason benefited her somehow. Based on what Mai had seen yesterday, she could tell that this guy had potential as a fighter, but she wasn't well versed enough in Firebending to know if there was something special about him in particular.

He seemed wholly ordinary aside from being an adept Firebender. And that confused Mai more than she cared to admit. Neither Azula nor her friends were ordinary, and Azula herself was so bored by the typical that she would never willingly take on someone that was just that as a pupil.

Mai hadn't bothered asking Azula about that last night. She had asked a lot more questions about their plan for the next few weeks and what kinds of supplies she might have needed from her father before they left. Logistic stuff. She didn't like to ask personal things because it made her seem like she cared when she was really just curious.

That said, Ty Lee had been right about something else last night as well; he _was_ pretty handsome. Mai liked to act as though typical human feelings didn't exist for her or something, mostly because it kept annoying people from bothering her, but she was a far cry from an unfeeling statue. She felt all the things normal teenage girls felt, she just wasn't nearly as open about it.

From her position in the doorway, Mai could just barely see the contemplative look on Xisheng's face as he looked out over the recently conquered city. He probably wasn't supposed to be out of uniform, but he figured it was alright since he was out here alone.

Not that you could really tell a person's thoughts just by looking at them, but it seemed to Mai that Xisheng was the kind of person to take in the big picture of things. He looked as though he considered anything and everything in different lights. The sign of an intellectual if ever there was one, and something that Mai would theoretically appreciate in a person.

She'd spent most of her life around people with very singular focus. Her parents had always been focused on their political careers, never entertaining thoughts of anything more. Ty Lee's focus as a child had always been standing out as much as possible however she could, and Azula's focus had always been being the best she could be. As for Zuko… Mai was never sure what Zuko had focused on before. She figured that he had never really known what he wanted, which was likely what had drawn Mai to him in the first place.

She too had never really been sure what she wanted out of life. She still didn't know even now. Everything she did had always been about finding something that meant anything to her. No one but her best friends would ever know, but Mai had been relatively adventurous as a child. Not adventurous because it was in her nature, but because she had always been searching for something that interested her.

As a kid she would try almost anything at least one time to see if it appealed to her or not. The problem was that nothing ever really did. Singing, Pai Sho, Ty Lee's acrobatics, if you could name it Mai had probably tried it or would be willing to. At least back then.

By now she'd grown kind of cynical about it all. She'd spent so many years trying to find something to be passionate about, and things had never really panned out. The boy she had held affections for had disgraced himself in front of his entire nation and gotten himself banished. And the only thing aside from that Mai had ever taken a liking to was throwing sharp objects at things.

This had led to the common notion held by just about everyone that knew her that Mai didn't care about anything. That she had no passion for anything and never got excited for any reason ever. Granted, as of right now that was mostly true, but only because she still hadn't found anything to be passionate about. She also wasn't trying very hard right now to find anything to fill that space. Even searching for something to enjoy in life had gotten boring after so many repeated failures.

Having managed to put herself in a bad mood just thinking about it, Mai finally ruined whatever introspection Xisheng was putting himself through.

"Hey."

The unmasked soldier glanced back over his shoulder in surprise, his contemplative expression quickly shifting to embarrassment due to who was there. For the life of her Mai thought it was kind of pathetic. Also kind of adorable, but still pathetic. There was a distinctly Zuko vibe in that combination.

"Ah, L-Lady Mai…"

"We're leaving."

That was all she said before turning on her heel and retreating back into the palace, leaving Xisheng to fumble with his helmet alone. Somehow he found Mai even harder to deal with than Azula. Sure, Azula was always pulling strings behind what she said and did, but you knew that she was doing that even if you didn't know why.

He had no clue what Mai was ever thinking. He was still half worried that she might hate him or something, but truth be told her expression was far too neutral to be that and he hadn't done anything for her to hate him yet.

Also, it was hard to deal with pretty girls having so little experience with them throughout his life. That applied to all three of the women in their little retinue, but Mai's impervious neutrality made it difficult to read anything about other than the fact that she was beautiful. And Xisheng knew for a fact that gorgeous neutrality was even worse than the regular kind.

All things considered Mai had not given him enough information to do anything on his own, so Xisheng quickly got back into uniform before going after her into the palace. After all, he had no idea where they were going.

Thankfully Mai wasn't someone that moved with too much haste when it wasn't absolutely necessary, so he managed to catch up to her fairly easily. Doing that, he decided to walk a little behind and to the side, which was the typical position for a guard escorting anyone of a higher stature. Moreover, he didn't feel comfortable walking right beside her.

It was no surprise that they walked in total silence considering who his company was, but it was rather shocking when the young woman actually did say something to him after a minute or two.

"Are you from some special family in the Fire Nation?"

Caught off guard and unsure of why she was asking this of him, Xisheng nevertheless tried to give a prompt answer. "Uh, n-no Milady…"

"You have special Firebending powers or something?"

"No, Milady…"

"…some sort of genetic thing?"

At this point Xisheng decided against answering. "Why are you asking me all of this?"

Mai didn't give a straight answer, which wasn't really surprising. "Just curious."

Xisheng got the feeling that 'just curious' for this girl equated to prying for information of some sort, but he couldn't imagine why he would be of any interest to her. On the other hand, he kind of liked the idea of being interesting to her. Though he doubted it was in the light he wanted it to be.

Either way Mai more or less led him to where the Princess and Ty Lee where at the gates, the former speaking with an attendant of some sort that probably represented the Governor. By the time Xisheng was close enough to hear what was being said her conversation was already over and the attendant was bowing and making his exit.

The Princess, adorned in her usual attire, briefly acknowledged the arrival of the last two members of her party before launching into a short narrative.

"Lieutenant, seeing as how you were the only one absent earlier this morning and we are on a tight schedule, I'll bring you up to speed quickly. We're pursuing the Avatar."

Not entirely surprised to hear this, Xisheng still questioned it nevertheless. "But Princess, I thought your objective was to apprehend the Dragon of the West…?"

"It was. But under the circumstances and after careful consideration I believe we would be of more use pursuing the greatest threat to our nation's cause and not a foolish old man that's not even a good traitor."

Xisheng wasn't sure what supposedly set a good traitor apart from a bad one. "Meaning…?"

"Look at it this way Lieutenant; assuming that Iroh has been arrayed against us for a long time now, how effective of a traitor has he been? He's completely failed to use his powerful position in the Fire Nation to do anything useful, from influencing our own people to feeding information on our movements and tactics to the enemy. He's not a direct threat."

While Xisheng could see the logic in this deduction, he still had his doubts. "I… suppose that's true, but isn't it still dangerous to let someone of his capability roam free?"

Azula scoffed at the notion. "Not at all. My theory is that Iroh is banking on the Avatar just like the rest of the world is. And just like the rest of the world, he's unwilling to really take a stand unless he has the Avatar backing him. Even when he finally moved against us at the North Pole, it was only with the Avatar at his back to take his side. Right now, I don't believe Iroh will do anything actively against us. It's more likely that he's trying to turn Zuko over to his cause. At least, that seems like a reasonable assumption at this point."

Xisheng glanced at the other girls, wondering if they had agreed to this course of action or if they had simply followed Azula's decision. After all, Ty Lee had signed on to track Iroh, not the Avatar, and the latter could take significantly more time than the acrobat had originally planned on. Mai, on the other hand, had made it clear that Zuko meant something to her. Surely she would have preferred to pursue him over the Avatar?

But neither girl looked overly bothered by it. Well, Mai looked a little sour, but that was just par for the course for her. Ty Lee was all smiles as usual, and this left Azula with room to continue.

"So, the way I see it, why bother hunting an offshoot of the problem rather than the problem itself? At this point we all know that the war is as good as won already. Ba Sing Se is the last standing enemy capital and one of the only major cities in the world not yet under Fire Nation control. The Earth Kingdom is on their knees and has no hope of engaging in an active counter offensive. In short, without the Avatar, victory is only a matter of time, especially considering the proximity of Sozin's Comet. Aside from maintaining the lines of battle we have now, realistically all of the Fire Nation's capabilities should be aimed towards eliminating the Avatar. So that's what we're going to do. Any other questions?"

The way she said that revealed the fact that she didn't expect any more questions, but Xisheng actually still had one. Though it was more rhetorical than anything else.

"I assume this means we're leaving the barge and the entirety of the Royal Guards behind?"

He said this with folded arms, and a tone that could almost be interpreted as a reprimand. To be honest Azula was kind of surprised that he was taking that tone with her after displaying a relatively submissive persona thus far, but it didn't necessarily anger her. From the perspective of Xisheng's job, he was right to be displeased about this development.

"Well, to be fair Lieutenant, I have elected to bring you along, have I not? Despite how much Ty Lee told me not to."

Xisheng was utterly shocked at this (and more than a little hurt), but Ty Lee was quick to clear her name. "I said no such thing! I _begged_ to have you come with us! Mai was the one that said you shouldn't come!"

The acrobat jabbed a finger at her knife throwing friend, who shrugged when Xisheng turned his gaze on her. "Don't expect me to deny it. I did say that."

For Xisheng, that was confirmation that Mai must have detested him for some reason or another. "O-oh…"

"Don't take it personally, I don't know you well enough to trust your skills yet."

That was somewhat less painful to consider, but Azula brought him right back down. "Which means based on a first impression she still thinks you're a waste of space."

Xisheng's deflation was almost visible, prompting Ty Lee to hug him protectively as she glared at her friends. "Don't worry Gohan, _I_ think you're great. Ignore these two witches and I'll keep you company whenever you want."

The lone soldier wished he wasn't wearing his armor at the moment, because the stiff steel completely negated the parts of her body that Ty Lee was pressing into him. But at least he felt a lot better knowing the brunette had his back. To be fair he was pretty certain Azula was just screwing with him because she could and she found it amusing, but Xisheng was still confused on where Mai stood. At least she had made it sort of clear that she didn't like nor hate him. He was just kind of there and she accepted that fact.

Either way, Azula put their short amount of banter to rest. "Back to your original question Lieutenant; yes, we are leaving the barge and all of the soldiers on it behind. We could never hope to track the Avatar across the Earth Kingdom in a seafaring ship. Moreover, we need to be able to move quickly and having five dozen guards hounding my every move isn't conducive to that end. And ultimately, those soldiers truly are dead weight. They proved to be worthless against my Uncle. Of course, I suppose if you really wanted to do your duty you could report all of this…"

Xisheng thought that was just a rhetorical comment at first, but when he was met with silence he saw that Azula was actually questioning him. "I… suppose my duty would call for such actions, but… I find that my loyalty to you takes precedence over that, Princess. I'll follow you anywhere as long as you'll have me."

His response brought one of those weird smirks to Azula's face that was halfway to a genuine smile but nevertheless falling short. Xisheng wondered if she ever actually smiled in an innocent sense. "And don't think for a moment that I don't appreciate that loyalty Lieutenant. It's the main reason I've trusted you to come along with us on this critical mission."

It was always heartening to get true gratitude from the Princess considering how rare it was, earning a smile out of Xisheng as Azula turned on her heel to lead her troop out of the palace. Naturally Ty Lee stayed next to Xisheng so she could tease him.

"She also brought you along because we need a cutie on the road trip too. That's the real reason, no doubt."

Apparently Mai was capable of hearing her comment even from ahead of them, prompting her to make a counter comment. "The _real_ reason is because we need someone to drive the tank."

Some level of testosterone fueled excitement arose in Xisheng at the word _tank,_ along with the notion of getting to drive one. What Fire Nation boy didn't dream of driving an Army tank at some point in his childhood?

However, when Xisheng finally stepped out of the Omashu palace with the trio of girls, the vehicle that was waiting for them was not the typical battle tank of the military. That made sense though, considering that there was no way a Firestorm main battle tank could carry four people.

What instead lied before them was a transport with real treads, a sloped rock breaker on its prow, and a smokestack on it.

"Aw, man…"

Ty Lee looked at him in confusion. "What? What's wrong?"

Sufficiently disappointed, Xisheng didn't really pay attention to the fact that maybe he sounded a little childish right now. "This isn't a _tank!_ It's an Overlord all terrain armored transport! Dammit…"

Azula ignored his lament entirely. "That it is. Can you drive it?"

"Yes… I can…"

"Good. Then let's be on our way. We have an important pick up before we leave the city, and the sooner we're on our way the better."

His disappointment ignored by both Azula and Mai, Xisheng found some solace in Ty Lee, as always. Though it didn't last long since her words of consolation utterly shocked him.

"Don't worry about it Gohan. There'll be plenty of fun things for you to ride in the future."

With that and a wink she hurried after her two friends, leaving Xisheng frozen in the courtyard that was the base of the palace here at Omashu.

Positive that the sway in her hips as she walked towards the Overlord was entirely intentional, Xisheng's gaze dropped below her bare lower back and settled on the hypnotizing view. There was some niggling voice in the back of his mind that said maybe he shouldn't have been so openly appreciating the visual, but it didn't push through and take dominance until he recalled the massive difference in their stations.

That said, Xisheng tried to override his thoughts with Firebending combat mantras.

 _Flame is powered by the breath. Without discipline a Firebender has no control over his own power. Fire can overcome all other elements with perseverance. Only fire can destroy that ass to usher in the future. Wait, shit!  
_

Xisheng smacked his hand to his face when that thought interrupted distorted his mantras, but ultimately he didn't quell the notion or the image that it had conjured up.

* * *

Having taken rather spartan courses in basic training in regards to operating vehicles, Xisheng had only needed a few minutes to figure out the gist of controlling the steel beast he now commanded. Truth be told it wasn't an overly complex machine. The engine that powered the vehicle pushed it forward with coal, and all Xisheng had to do was steer really.

Other than that it was just a matter of getting a feel for handling the essential train-tank hybrid. It had great acceleration in a straight line, but it definitely didn't turn all that well. It made navigating the passages of Omashu rather interesting. Xisheng did accidentally nick the corner of a storage building at one point, gouging it pretty seriously, but it wasn't really his fault. The view port on this thing was pretty narrow.

Either way Azula had informed him not to take the Overlord straight out of the city, but instead to its stables, which were near the gates anyway. Upon reaching that particular location, Xisheng was met with the somewhat troublesome prospect of lining up the Overlord with another car that had to be added to the back of the already present one. Xisheng didn't actually know what was in that first car, but he imagined that it was probably some sort of living quarters for the ladies. They would probably be on the road in this vehicle for quite some time after all. That said, Xisheng was fairly certain that he would be calling the driver's cabin home for longer than he would have liked. While the cabin was technically spacious, it was crowded with so many controls and machines that it was still cramped. The only place there would really be to sleep was the driver's chair itself.

Then again, he could always sleep outside whenever they stopped if it was possible. He was no stranger to outdoor living and sleeping under the stars while deployed in the Earth Kingdom. Granted, he usually had a sleeping bag and a tent, but it was mostly still the same.

Either way, Xisheng at least discovered what the car they were adding now was for, as four reptilian creatures were ushered into it as soon as it was attached. He vaguely recognized them as some sort of native Fire Nation creature, but the name of the species eluded him. They were versatile mounts and distant cousins of dragons, or something like that. Other than that Xisheng didn't know anything about them. Basic training had only included general knowledge on Komodo Rhinos, since they were the most commonly used beast of burden and war in the military.

Once the four scaly steeds were secured, Azula gathered her quintessential cronies to discuss where they were actually going. After all, none of them knew precisely where the Avatar had headed, so an impromptu meeting was in order, with all of them gathering outside of the driver's cabin.

"So, here's the dilemma. We have no idea where the Avatar is going, and all we can do is reasonably deduce his most likely destination in order to pursue. The good news is he has limited places to run to considering how much of the Earth Kingdom is under our control. Admittedly I have a fairly good idea where he'll probably go next, but thoughts from all of you first."

Ty Lee was the first to speak. "Well, isn't Ba Sing Se the most obvious choice? It's the safest place in the EK. And if he is looking for an Earthbending teacher there's gotta be plenty of them there."

Xisheng admitted this was not bad thinking, but Ba Sing Se was pretty far away. Even flying it would take the Avatar quite some time to reach it. Apparently Mai knew this as well.

"Gaoling is closer. And the way I heard it Gaoling is considered one of the best places to learn advanced Earthbending. Supposed to be all sorts of schools there."

These were both fair points, and Xisheng figured Azula would make a decision without his input, but this turned out to be untrue when she waited for his insight with a nonchalant expression. As though there were no question as to whether or not he was supposed to say something.

Xisheng was still caught off guard by the notion. "Ah, surely I don't have anything worthwhile to add Princess…"

"I beg to differ. You have the most unique perspective out of all of us, being a soldier and a commoner. No offense."

Xisheng decided not to take any offense at the remark, seeing as how it was true. He was surrounded by nobles and he was just an average man from an average family.

"Well… from the few encounters we've had with him, it seems to me that the Avatar is rather impulsive, and not very patient. If his primary objective right now is find an Earthbending teacher, it seems likely that he would try to achieve it as soon as possible. That being the case I think he would head for Gaoling before Ba Sing Se."

Worried that his deductions seemed foolish, Xisheng was relieved to see Azula give one of those approving smirks. "My thoughts exactly Lieutenant. The Airbenders were notorious for being impulsive and rarely thinking more than a few steps ahead."

She was briefly interrupted by a sardonic comment from Mai. "Sounds like someone we all know…"

There was a brief moment in which Ty Lee glanced around their little group, likely trying to determine who Mai was talking about. Naturally she frowned when she figured it out. "Hey, I think some stuff through. Sometimes."

Truth be told Xisheng did think the acrobat had an uncanny number of Air Nomad qualities. She certainly had their agility, and the jab at her impulsiveness was not misplaced. She even had some of their physical features. That said, Xisheng knew it was stupid to identify everyone with brown eyes and an impulsive personality as being reminiscent of Airbenders. After all, eighty percent of the world had black hair and they weren't similar in any way.

Ignoring the brief exchange, Azula continued on with her point. "Either way, I think it's fairly safe to assume that the Avatar is heading for Gaoling. That'll be our destination for now."

Mai felt the need to point out something important here. "It might be the most likely assumption but it's still just a guess. Like you said, the Avatar seems pretty cowardly, what if he goes to Ba Sing Se because it's safer? We could be heading off in the complete opposite direction he's going."

"You make a fair point, but either way we still have no guarantee of making the right choice. That said, I'm willing to make another assumption; the Avatar likely feels safe the moment he's flying away from danger on his ridiculous flying buffalo. I doubt he thinks of the best way to stay safe in the long run, feeling as though he has an easy means of escape at any point in time. I still believe our safest bet is Gaoling."

Having only wanted to bring up the point and not debate it, Mai merely shrugged, deferring to what Xisheng had to say. "I agree with you Princess. I know I would feel safe being able to soar far from any dangers. That said, I think we should make neutralizing that animal a primary objective when we encounter the Avatar again."

Ty Lee was on him in a flash. "Gohan, how could you say something that horrible?!"

The soldier turned officer briefly noted that this was the first time he had seen Ty Lee genuinely upset about anything. Which confused him because he had no idea why she would be upset at what he had said.

"W-what do you mean…?"

"There's no need to hurt the bison! It's not like it got a choice in whose side to be on!"

Xisheng prepared to make some sort of statement about how he had simply been making a tactical assessment, but Azula had it covered before he did, albeit in a less gentle manner.

"Don't be an imbecile Ty Lee. The Lieutenant's right. As long as the flying pack animal is around the Avatar could potentially escape our clutches every single time we corner him. Besides, the filthy animal is just a remnant of a backwards bygone civilization. Who cares if it joins the rest of them in extinction?"

For some reason Xisheng was surprised to hear the Princess speak so maliciously. Honestly he had almost forgotten that aspect of her character, since it was generally absent from most of their day to day interactions. Xisheng had to remind himself that she could be cruel; and that she often was to the people and things that were of no interest to her, though he didn't necessarily judge her for this. Was not everyone apathetic to the things they did not care for? Azula just had a wider range of negligible concerns compared to the rest of them: save Mai, of course.

Speaking of the marksman, Ty Lee turned to her for support, for some reason Xisheng couldn't fathom. "Mai, say something! You don't support animal cruelty right?"

Mai seemed as confused as Xisheng that Ty Lee was looking to her for backup. "What are you looking at me for? I don't care what we do to the stupid flying steak."

While he had been the one to make this suggestion in the first place, Xisheng saw that Ty Lee was truly upset by the notion. While there was no way to be sure, he figured that maybe it had something to do with her tenure in the circus. Perhaps she had a greater appreciation for animals than the rest of them. Either way, seeing as how she often tried to provide assurance of some sort for Xisheng, he felt morally and emotionally obligated to try and comfort her.

"I-I wasn't suggesting we kill the Sky Bison, Ty Lee, just that we should neutralize its usefulness somehow…"

The acrobat was halfway to giving him a grateful smile before Azula cut in. "Speak for yourself, I was suggesting we kill the Sky Bison. Or rather, I'm suggesting it now."

Naturally it was almost impossible to tell when Azula was joking, so Ty Lee simply scowled at her for the remark either way. It was unfortunate for her that her physical appearance didn't support scowls, frowns, or general displeasure as well as Mai's.

Having decided their course and sufficiently dampened the mood of the most cheerful of their number, the cadre of Fire Nation natives boarded the Overlord a second time, though they would not disembark again until they had covered some distance or someone had the courage to inform the male driver that one of the ladies needed a bathroom break, though how they would make that known to him with no means of communicating between the engine and the passenger car was a good question.

Unfortunately for Xisheng, the addition of another car with numerous heavy animals in it made the Overlord even more unwieldy, and steering it through the sloping streets of Omashu was a real pain. He was fairly certain that the rear car knocked over a cabbage stand or something at one point, but he cut himself some slack because he had been driving this vehicle for less than forty minutes tops.

But despite his amateur skill in the craft, Xisheng managed to get out of Omashu without too much trouble, clearing the newly erected steel gates to the city and crossing the land bridge that he had no doubt would be replaced by steel later. After all, it wouldn't do to have the only conventional entrance into the city be something Earthbenders could easily destroy.

Crossing said bridge briefly reminded Xisheng that a machine had been expressly built for the siege of Omashu. A literal mobile bridge that could be deployed on one side of the chasm and extended to the city walls for the attacking troops, since the regular earthen bridge would obviously have been removed by the defenders prior to the assault.

Naturally it had not been used because King Bumi had surrendered the city without a fight, which left Xisheng rather disappointed. He was always eager to learn of the efficiencies of new Fire Nation technologies. If anything it proved their point in having advanced far beyond their counterparts. Still, he supposed it was better that it had not been needed.

Having been provided a map and following rather straightforward directions to Gaoling in the first place, Xisheng didn't have much trouble setting the Overlord in the right direction, and thankfully they didn't have any mountains or hills to really deal with just yet. While he was curious to see how well this vehicle functioned on such terrain, he preferred to leave it a mystery as much as possible.

And since the driving was so easy, it gave him time to do what he did best: think. Or more accurately, ponder his life choices. Xisheng did that a lot, seeing as how he had often been given plenty of downtime in his career in which there was nothing else to do. Perhaps that was why his conviction in their cause was so strong, because he had always had plenty of time to dwell on it.

That was not to say he was blindly loyal to the cause of course, even if he was totally committed. He did not question the end goal of the war, but he often questioned how they got there. After all, the genocide of an entire race was a heavy sin to bear, and one that no amount of good intention could ever redeem.

But Xisheng had long ago accepted that evil for what it was. It could not be atoned for. All that could be done was ensure that their extinction was not in vain. If the Fire Nation failed to achieve victory in this century long conflict, the Air Nomads would have died for absolutely nothing.

Of course, Xisheng felt as though that logic wouldn't fly very well with the rest of the world. 'Surrender and let us win so the people we killed won't have died for nothing.'

Yeah, he didn't see that approach to the war working anytime soon. Thankfully though, they were in the final stretch. With only Ba Sing Se and a few major yet ultimately unimportant cities like Gaoling still standing, the EK's days were numbered. That said, saying 'Ba Sing Se is all we have left to conquer' was equivalent to saying there was still a whole country to fight, as the city almost had just as much total area to it as the Fire Nation in its entirety.

Even so, with Sozin's Comet soaring through the atmosphere in less than a year, the war was practically won already. The Fire Nation didn't have to really make another offensive. They could just hunker down, gather their forces, and unleash everything on Ba Sing Se when the Comet came. The Earth Kingdom had no hope of really winning at this point.

Or at least, they wouldn't if it weren't for that pesky supernatural bender of all four elements that had the gall to try and determine the course of humanity for them. Xisheng doubted that was how the Avatar truly thought; he was but a twelve year old boy after all, and probably didn't think of his situation beyond what everyone told him it was, which was undoubtedly 'saving the world from Fire Nation tyranny.'

Of course his companions were just children as well, so Xisheng could understand their naiveté. Everybody thought their enemies were 'the evil bad guys.' Who looked at their foes and thought of them as people with their own convictions and beliefs in right and wrong? Hell, who even looked at their foes and thought them human like everyone else?

Not children certainly. It was easy to vilify those that wronged you as a child, justly or not. It was even easier when your side also happened to be losing. After all, everyone liked to think themselves the victim when on the receiving end of a beat down. The Fire Nation had been gradually stomping the EK into the ground for the past one hundred years. Being on the losing team for that long made it laughably easy to vilify the winning team.

Xisheng didn't really care too much about that. He knew there was no way to convince the world they weren't evil until the war itself was over. They would be hated until their good intentions were made clear, provided the Fire Lord actually followed through with all of it. Based on what he had seen so far Xisheng was fairly certain that the Fire Lord was interested in their manifesto to some extent, though perhaps he was more in line with Azula. Maybe he was just improving conditions in the conquered EK cities because they were now Fire Nation cities, and their problems became the Fire Nation's one way or another.

He supposed it didn't matter why change was implemented so long as it was. Practical or philosophical reasons notwithstanding, as long as it happened that was good enough.

Really, the world didn't appreciate just how much effort the Fire Nation was putting into this revolution. Did they have any idea how many lives and resources they were pouring into this effort? Did they know how much money and materials could have been used for something else if the FN didn't need them for complex and costly prisons for captured benders?

And surely no one with half a brain really thought the ultimate goal of the war was world conquest. There simply had not been enough gain as opposed to cost in the past one hundred years. If the point of the war was material gain in territory or power, then going this far had done more harm than good. The only explanation was that the Fire Nation had some goal in mind that was not purely for self-gain.

Not that anyone would believe that, and not that Xisheng would blame them. They'd killed a great many people, and for a future they would never get the chance to see.

This ultimately led Xisheng back to the ultimate question: was it worth it? Was the extinction of an entire race and tens of thousands more besides worth a brighter future for all of humanity? A future free of the restraints of the Spirit World, which had kept them in darkness for thousands of years, maybe even since the dawn of time?

Xisheng figured that ultimately only the future could condone or condemn their actions. One day when the events of the past hundred years could be viewed in retrospect, society would determine if what had occurred was just or evil. Until that day the people that lived this event could only carry forward with trust in their own cause.

Weary of dwelling on such things even for a brief time, Xisheng turned his thoughts to far more tasteful subjects. He was traveling with an entire trio of beautiful girls after all. Any man his age would think himself lucky to be in such a situation, even if it was an entirely 'look and don't touch' kind. Fantasies aside, Xisheng knew his place in their merry little band. They were all nobles and beyond in Azula's case, and he was just a soldier. Just a faceless grunt in a mask.

He was on this mission because he had practical uses, not for sentimentality. Azula hadn't brought him along because she valued him in any other way than his ability to fight and his ability to drive the Overlord. As for the others, Mai couldn't care any less about his existence and Ty Lee probably valued him for the amusement he provided more than anything else. He doubted he would be too sorely missed had he not been here at all or was removed from the situation one way or another later.

With all of that taken into account, Xisheng didn't view his stance as a matter of self-esteem. It was just facing the facts. He knew he had no chance in forming a real relationship with anyone in his current group, primarily due to social even if that wasn't the case, he was fairly positive they were all astronomically out of his league regardless. Girls that gorgeous were far outside his aesthetic means in life. He certainly didn't think himself good looking enough to catch their interest, at least in any serious light considering Ty Lee, and he doubted his personality was anything great enough to be worthy of such affections either.

Granted, _that_ might have been low self-esteem. Either way, the reality of the situation, perceived or not, didn't stop Xisheng from daydreaming about impossible fantasies from time to time. After all, how could he not? He was more or less a grown man at this point and a young one besides, no one could reasonably expect him to not dwell on some scandalous things every once in a while considering his company.

Of course, it was not like that was his only interest in the girls of the group. He was hardly that shallow. And moreover, they were all far too interesting people for him to simply care about their undeniable good looks.

Though, truth be told, his greatest interest was in Mai. Not that he thought any higher of her than the others, but unlike Ty Lee and Azula, she was a mystery at the moment. Xisheng knew almost nothing about her other than her relation to Omashu's new governor, her childhood friendship with Azula, and her incredible proficiency with projectiles.

That lack of information about her made for an enigma Xisheng was eager to solve. He loved figuring people out. And not in the 'learn their weaknesses so I can pick them apart' kind of way he was sure Azula preferred. Xisheng was a people person at heart. He liked knowing the people around him. The things that made them who they were. After all, how could you truly appreciate someone if you didn't truly know them in the first place?

The process was made even more intriguing with people like Mai, who seemed to care about nothing or hardly even be human at times, but only because they were so good at hiding the things that made them smile or laugh. Hell, even Mai's closest friends seemed to truly think of her as some impenetrable fortress of gloom and misery.

Xisheng for one could not understand that belief. Could you really call yourself someone's friend if you didn't even know them well enough to differentiate a facade from their true character? Then again, maybe Xisheng was, not for the first time, being too idealistic. Maybe Mai was completely without warmth or passion of any sort. He found that hard to believe with her being a Fire Nation native and all, but hw wasn't sure if that whole 'will of fire, burning passion and drive' thing talked about in school was only an alleged quality of Firebenders.

Either way, Mai was more of a mystery than her two friends at the moment, and truth be told he had already figured out Azula and Ty Lee for the most part. That was not to say that they were simple or he knew everything there was to know about them, but identifying the things that drove them forward in life was no great challenge even this early in his limited familiarity with them.

Azula seemed like an ambitious person that wanted the whole world but in fact wanted very little. She wanted perfection from herself and competence from everyone that served or aided her. Whether for nationalistic pride or simply pleasing her father, she wanted to help the Fire Nation succeed and advance their power and position. Surely there were other things that motivated her in life, but those two were clearly the most influential. Improvement of herself and advancement of her nation.

As for Ty Lee, she was an outright hedonist. Not in the bad sense, where she cared nothing for anyone and simply sought to fulfill her own desires, but in the sense that she just wanted to enjoy life to the fullest. And she wanted the people around her to enjoy it too. It was at the core of everything she did. Why she was always so happy and excited and why she tried to get everyone else to be the same, which made her a real trooper for constantly trying to breach Mai's impervious defenses.

And Mai, well, Xisheng didn't know enough to fairly say anything about her. She had stated that finding a cure for boredom was enough reason to embark on this mission, and Xisheng got the feeling that was not a lie, though not the whole truth either. Maybe she wasn't looking for a cure for her boredom so much as a cure for her apathy. It was possible that the reason she was so bored all the time was not because she had nothing to do, but because she had not found anything to care about.

That notion made Xisheng incredibly sad. He could not imagine living life without some sort of passion for _something._ Anything. What was there to live for without something to love? Something to love doing, someone to love being around, somewhere to love being?

What did soldiers live for but a love of their country or their families? Artists, dancers, and musicians but for their craft? Scientists but for their love of learning, and doctors for their love of helping others? Xisheng couldn't fathom having no passion for anything. It was entirely beyond his ability to comprehend.

But to be fair, this was pure conjecture on his part. He had literally known Mai for less than twenty four hours and he hardly had any right to make assumptions on her character, and he certainly had no evidence to support those assumptions either way. He just found it hard to believe she could be as cold and uncaring as her friends claimed her to be.

After all, there was that mention of the wayward prince Zuko in the conversation yesterday. It had sounded like she at least cared about him in some regard, from the observation of an outsider that knew nothing of the matter at least.

Xisheng entertained himself with these thoughts as the hours of the day dwindled away under the ceaseless toil of the Overlord's engine. And during this time, Xisheng learned quite a bit about the machine. The first was that it wasn't really designed to be driven by one person, especially considering the two chairs that existed up here. After all, someone had to make sure the engine constantly had enough fuel to burn. Considering that Xisheng was the only person available to drive, he had to do that himself. Which meant leaving the driver's seat and going to the rear of his particular car to do that.

Thankfully if he was smart about it the issue didn't pose a huge problem. As long as he left the driver seat when the Overlord was passing through a long straight or something, he generally had time to refill the engine before he was needed to control the machine again.

Speaking of which, he was mildly concerned about fuel. The Overlord did have a considerable coal reserve already stocked, and though the consumption rate of that coal wasn't too alarmingly high, it was still a limited resource. It was easy to stock at Fire Nation camps and facilities since coal powered so many of their machines, but elsewhere it wouldn't be so readily available. Still, he was sure this was a detail Azula had figured out already.

The second thing he learned about the Overlord on his first day on the job was that the seat was not especially comfortable over the course of several hours. The Fire Nation was great at designing things for a practical purpose. They hadn't yet mastered the fine balance between practicality and personal comfort. The only padding in Fire Nation development existed in the armor of their soldiers, and that was actually because it provided more insulation than anything else. More safety against both wayward Firebending and the cold of icy Waterbending attacks, with comfort just being a nice bonus.

Either way, about the time he had been driving for six hours or so (he noted for future days of travel that he would need to bring some sort of food into the driver's cabin with him), Xisheng was met with another more serious problem: Azula had not told him when or where to stop for the day. Or if he was supposed to stop at all.

He imagined that he was, as reaching Gaoling was more than a quick jaunt across the countryside and would take several days, but considering how early they had left Omashu it was only late afternoon by now. There was still enough light to travel safely at top speed, and Azula was a real stickler for efficiency.

Still, having been locked up in the driver's cabin for so long, Xisheng knew he needed a break anyway. For one it was undeniably boring as hell driving around such open and easily passable terrain in this thing for so long, and on a more basic note he kind of needed to relieve himself. He was only human after all.

That being the case he allowed the Overlord to consume what coal was in its engine before gradually slowing to a halt in a relatively flat plain of land that nevertheless had a few hills here and there to grant some minor variety. The mountains they would have to cross eventually loomed on the horizon, but aside from the setting orange sun behind them they were too far to really appreciate in a visual capacity.

Regardless, Xisheng wasted no time in exiting the driver's cabin, just in case Azula wore into him for wasting valuable time in their pursuit of the Avatar and daring to stop for anything so banal as basic human necessity.

He didn't get to actually relieve that human necessity before the car that housed his companions opened, with significantly more steam than seemed necessary. Xisheng supposed it was the result of imperfect hydraulics. The Fire Nation may have been the world leader in technology but even so they were technically still amateur practitioners only beginning to really hit their mechanical stride.

He also imagined that exiting from such a cloud of steam could make any entrance dramatic, but a coughing fit from what could have only been Ty Lee ruined it. After all, it couldn't have been Mai or Azula. Coughing was a sign of human weakness, and they both liked to pretend they didn't have that.

Either way the Crown Princess stepped through the cloud of steam just as it began to dissipate, glancing around for only a moment to see where Xisheng was. When she spotted him there was no hesitation before she asked the obvious question.

"Is there an issue Lieutenant? Why have we stopped?"

Unwilling to say anything along the lines of 'I had to go to the bathroom' to the Princess of the Fire Nation, Xisheng quickly devised an excuse that was, humorously enough, the exact same excuse but for a different subject.

"There's no issue Your Highness, but I figured it would be prudent to allow the animals we're carrying a few minutes of reprieve and relief. They've been confined for some time."

From inside the car that Xisheng couldn't see inside of from this angle, he heard Ty Lee's seemingly triumphant voice.

"See, I told you! Gohan's a nice guy, he was even thinking of the animals! I knew he would."

Naturally, she was answered by the entirely deadpan voice of the car's only other occupant at the moment. "And I told you, probably six times by now at least, that I really don't care for anyone's love of the animal kingdom, or my lack thereof. Please shove it already."

Not put off in any way, Ty Lee had a suggestion for that too. "Hmph. I told Azula all those years ago that if we had gotten that baby Deerhound for your eighth birthday you would grow up to be a happier person…"

"Remind me to thank her for not burdening me with an animal that needs even more attention than you do."

Azula ignored their exchange entirely, instead providing a reply to her direct subordinate. "I suppose you make a fair point. It would be far more hassle than it's worth if they were to… well, obviously you know or you wouldn't have brought it up. Ty Lee?"

Essentially summoned, the acrobat front flipped out of the passenger car, because she could and why not? "Leave it to me! I've got plenty of experience with Mongoose Lizards, so I don't mind."

The Crown Princess considered stating that she didn't really ask whether or not her friend minded, but ultimately she settled on a more pressing question.

"What does a circus need with Mongoose Lizards?"

Already pulling the switch on the outside of the third car to release said animals, Ty Lee gave her friend a look of confusion. "Huh? Who said anything about the circus?"

Needless to say this left everyone else baffled, but at the same time they all figured it was best not to dive any deeper into that particular issue. Instead, Xisheng decided it was a good time to ask the other more important question as Ty Lee coaxed the Mongoose Lizards into staying somewhat orderly and controlled in their mad dash from the car.

"While we're stopped Princess, I figured this would be a good time to ask; but when or where exactly do you want me to stop? You didn't really specify before we left Omashu…"

For her part, Azula looked at him with a completely serious expression. "Were you under the impression that you're supposed to stop before we reach Gaoling?"

As usual, Xisheng had no idea if she was serious. And the fact that she very well could have been was kind of terrifying. That said, Xisheng tried to say something that would make her reveal this statement as a joke.

"W-well, you and your friends will need to sleep sometime, correct…?"

The Princess donned that one smirk that always worried Xisheng as she motioned for him to look into the passenger car she had been riding for the past six hours. "Indeed, but I do believe that dilemma has already been solved."

Now curious, Xisheng moved to a position where he could see within the still open passenger car. Needless to say what came out of his mouth was not exactly professional.

"What the hell is this absolute nonsense?"

The passenger car may as well have been a small suite for all the difference the interior made. It had beds. It had rugs covering the cold steel floor. It had a small closet looking compartment in the corner that Xisheng was fairly certain was a bathroom. Aside from the walls that were still steel, it was way nicer than any passenger car pulled by a military vehicle should ever have.

The downright absurdity of the sight was ironically offset by Mai's lazily reclining form on one of the beds, as though nothing were strange about this at all.

"You have got to be kidding me. Where did this come from?!"

Azula looked into the car as well as she came to stand beside him. "I had it prepared overnight by servants at Omashu. You didn't really think the Princess of the Fire Nation was going to ride in any level of discomfort did you?"

Temporarily forgetting his position in who he was talking to, Xisheng gawked at her. "You had them install _plumbing_ in a passenger car over night?"

"At the Governor's expense of course."

Xisheng didn't know what to say to that, but thankfully Azula filled in the silence. "That said, I don't expect you to drive _all_ night…"

Before he could give thanks silent or otherwise, Mai had something to say to that. "Don't see why not though. It's not like we couldn't sleep just fine while you did."

A little irked by Mai's seeming disregard for his well-being, Xisheng snapped at her before he really thought about it. "Oh, I'm so sorry that you get impatient while lazing around in bed all day. Maybe you wouldn't be so bored if you drove the Overlord, _milady."_

Mai actually looked moderately surprised that Xisheng had spoken to her with such disdain, but she didn't actually seem mad about it. If anything, the look she gave him was almost… appreciative. In fact, she almost appeared to be actually considering his not to be taken seriously suggestion. Ultimately, she simply shrugged and returned to reclining as she was before Xisheng's criticism.

"Maybe."

Left flat footed after a response like that, Xisheng did feel immediately bad about what he had said, though he was more confused by her reaction than anything else. That said Azula gave one glance to the orange sky before making a statement.

"Well, now that we have that drama out of the way, I suppose this is as good a time as any to stop for the day. After all, it's better to train with some amount of sunlight still available…"

Xisheng's only response to that was a despairing grimace, which prompted Azula to almost smile in amusement.

"You seriously believed you were going to get out of it for a while, didn't you?"

"No, of course not. Not at all. I was looking forward to it actually. Please bless me with your eminent wisdom Princess."

Azula cocked an eyebrow at him, but Mai actually commented on it with some very small amount of amusement in her voice. "I understand getting all sarcastic with me, but was that really wise?"

"Well sarcasm seems to be a prevailing quality around here so I have to get in on it sometime. Otherwise I'll just end up like Ty Lee."

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?!"

* * *

Thankfully the training session Xisheng had with Azula was a short one since they started so late in the afternoon. The whole thing was wrapped up in just under an hour, with the lesson being short and to the point in regards to concussive Firebending.

Xisheng was no stranger to the technique of course, having employed it several times on the battlefield. It was a phenomenal technique really, once one realized that fire had no physical force to it at all. And this brought Azula and Xisheng back to that one particular point about Firebending, in that what they were necessarily bending might not have been fire in and of itself.

Well, it _was_ fire, but it was a matter of whether or not fire was just a manifestation of what they were really doing, which Azula had theorized to be 'energy bending.'

After all, if flame had no physical force of its own, how did Firebenders utilize concussion? It was something they all just kind of did without really thinking, using Firebending to knock people back or blast them away with an explosion, but it didn't make any sense in regards to what fire was and how it worked.

It did however, make some sense if Firebenders actually bent energy and just used fire as they primary manifestation of it. Because if that were true, Firebenders could manifest physical force with their bending, seeing as how force was just a reaction to energy.

All in all, Xisheng didn't know how the hell it worked. Ultimately he cared that it did, though the mechanics of it still intrigued him. For now he was content knowing that he could condense his Firebending so it would 'explode' with physical force on impact. Quite useful for numerous situations.

Naturally Azula had demonstrated how useful it was by shooting Xisheng with one such fireball, but thankfully at a low enough power to avoid truly hurting him. Mai had been right about her mild payback for snarking her.

But, all in all, that part of the day passed quickly enough, and Xisheng was free to supposedly relax for what was left of the evening, and hopefully eat. Aside from the quick breakfast he had grabbed in Omashu that morning, he had consumed nothing all day.

Thankfully, by the time training was over Ty Lee has gotten a fire going with wood she had mysteriously acquired from some source Xisheng couldn't discern. They were out in the middle of God-forsaken nowhere after all.

He chalked it up to Azula having thought ahead and bringing supplies or something, not questioning it any further as he came to rest at the fire as well. The Mongoose Lizards were more or less scattered about the immediate area, well-trained enough to avoid running off. That said it was just Xisheng and Ty Lee at the campfire, because Mai had yet to leave the passenger car (Xisheng was pretty sure she had fallen asleep in the position he had seen her last) and Azula was poring over the map of the Earth Kingdom they had as she leaned against the Overlord.

This left Xisheng in especially good company either way, made more obvious when the currently ex-circus performer handed him a bowl of whatever she had been cooking.

"Here. Guess what it is?"

A brief glance at the contents of the bowl proved Xisheng's suspicions true even as they formed in his mind. It was, of course, rice.

"Of course… I guess this is actually thoughtful, all things considered. Thank you."

Supposedly Ty Lee thought it was kind of funny, wearing an even goofier grin than usual as she provided him with a pair of chopsticks from somewhere unseen. The recently promoted officer decided to take it as her general sense of happiness and not any particular jibe at him.

Still, he noticed that there was only one bowl to be had, leading him to ask the obvious. "Aren't you going to eat any?"

The acrobat gave him a brief apologetic look before answering. "Well, no offense, but the rest of us kind of already ate, well, y'know, nicer things."

Recalling his last debacle with fancier foods, Xisheng was silently grateful to whichever girl had remembered his preference for food. Though he wouldn't have minded some other basic things. Bread maybe. He hadn't eaten a good, wholesome sweetroll in what felt like forever.

"No worries. Can't help what I can't stomach."

That remark left the duo in silence for a few minutes as Xisheng sought to actually sate his hunger, but he was not so foolish as to pass up this one on one opportunity with someone who was still a relative stranger. As soon as he wasn't feeling completely famished he got started on learning a bit more about the girl sitting a few feet from him.

"So, if you don't mind me asking…"

There was an extremely brief frown to be seen on Ty Lee's face when he said that. Mostly because every time someone said that to her, the question to follow was, 'why did you join the circus?' Or sometimes it was, 'why did you run away from a life of nobility to join a circus?' Even the people at the circus had asked her that and it irritated her. It just proved that everyone thought she was nuts for abandoning a life of posh nobility for any reason at all.

"What started your interest in acrobatics?"

Having literally been halfway through the first word of her typical response for the circus question, Ty Lee was caught off guard when it never came. "I-huh?"

"Your acrobatics. I was wondering when and why you got into them. If you don't mind sharing."

Truth be told this question had literally never been asked of her. People asked Ty Lee about her life choices all the time. No one ever asked about her for the sake of just knowing more about, well, her.

"Um, well… there's wasn't anything really special I guess. I mean, not like whatever epiphany Mai must have had the first day she caught on to how much she liked throwing things. I just… gave it a try one time. You know, a cartwheel. I was out in the palace garden, just waiting for that super long dinner my parents had been invited to with the rest of the nobility to be over. I can't even remember why they brought me along, but a lot of parents did so maybe it was expected or something…"

Ty Lee was worried that she was kind of rambling without getting to her point, but to his credit Xisheng didn't seem bothered at all. He was listening intently, giving her his full attention. And she liked that fact more than she'd admit to anyone out loud.

"And uh, none of the adults really cared when the kids got kind of antsy. We were all raised in noble homes so it wasn't like we didn't know how to behave. At least, I think no one really minded. It could be that no one noticed when I slipped away from the banquet table. But either way, I kind of just roamed the palace for a while, since it was my first time there. And I thought the garden was really nice, but by the time I got there I was really bored, and it felt like the dinner was going to take forever. So I just… kinda cartwheeled around a bit. Trying to pass the time. Entertain myself I guess."

Glancing furtively at her conversational partner to make sure he was still interested in this simple story she felt like she was dragging on far too long, Ty Lee was relieved to see he was. Though in hindsight his complete attention was kind of nerve wracking. He was looking at her so intently with that gorgeous multi-colored gaze of his…

"And w-well, uh… Azula was there. I mean, she saw me doing all the cartwheels. She clapped when I was done, said it was really impressive… and I guess… that was kind of it really. I mean, maybe it was just the logic of a little girl, but I figured… if the most basic acrobatics could get the attention of a Fire Nation princess, then doing all the really cool stuff would really get people to notice me right? I realized that everyone pays attention to me, even if it's only for a second, when I'm doing something acrobatic that impresses them. I always enjoyed that attention. And I guess I still do, so I just got better and better at what I do, until I got where I am now."

There was a moment of silence as Xisheng contemplated everything she had said. "I guess that explains joining the circus… what better place to capture everyone's attention than with a performance and a real audience?"

For some reason that comment made Ty Lee feel extremely self-conscious. "That… all of that makes me seem really shallow and vain doesn't it?"

The soldier looked genuinely confused by this notion. "I don't think so. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be noticed. I'm pretty sure almost everyone wants to be noticed by someone. Part of feeling good about ourselves is being important to other people, and that's just human. I'm just as guilty as you and I'm certainly not going to judge you for it."

That seemed to be all Xisheng had to say on the matter, and that seriously shocked Ty Lee. He didn't want a backstory? Some sort of explanation that would justify her need for attention or validation? He was just going to take it at face value and say, 'this is who you are, and I don't mind at all'?

But apparently she had 'spoken' too soon, for Xisheng did have something to say after a moment of thought. "Although now that you're away from the circus, I suppose there's no one to really watch you perform…"

"U-um, yeah, I guess so… but it's fine, I-"

"I'll watch."

Once again caught off guard by this completely nonchalant statement from the man across from her, Ty Lee fumbled in responding. This was a feat in and of itself, because she actually didn't get flustered all that often. Moreso than her friends, but definitely not as easily as most girls.

"Uh, w-what do you mean?"

"I'm sure you have all sorts of routines or just moves in general I haven't seen. I only got to see one performance. So if you ever have anything you want to show off, I'm always willing to make time for you. You've got my attention whenever you want it."

There were all sorts of implications Ty Lee could derive from almost every inch of that response, and all of them totaled together brought one of the most furious blushes she had ever experienced to her face. For once she actually found herself trying to change the topic of conversation to something that had nothing to do with her at all.

"T-t-thanks, b-but um, y-y'know, I'm sure you'll be busy doing uh… stuff, with the others. Right?"

It was impossible to tell if Xisheng noticed how badly he had flustered his conversational partner, as he gave her diversionary comment real consideration, though it ultimately caused him to scoff. "That's a joke right? I mean, I guess training with Azula could be take some time, but I'm fairly certain Mai doesn't want anything to do with me. I'm pretty sure she flat out hates me or something."

The defeated expression on Xisheng's face as he said this was enough for Ty Lee to forget her prior embarrassment to offer real insight on the matter. "Aw, come on, Mai doesn't hate you."

"It certainly feels like it."

"Well, it's more like… hm, how do I say this without sounding mean? You're uh… kinda boring Gohan."

Xisheng gave her an incredulous look at this blunt statement. "Just so you know, that wasn't the way to say that without sounding mean. You think I'm boring?"

The pink clad acrobat waved her arms in dismissal. "No, _I_ don't think you're boring. But that's because you're… well I feel like you're more of yourself around me. Look at it this way; Mai's nobility too, she grew up surrounded by good little servants that treated her with utmost respect and deference and all that."

The man she was speaking to cut her off. "You can't possibly be suggesting that I shouldn't treat her with respect. No woman wants that."

"That's not really what I was implying… ugh, this is so much harder to explain than I thought it would be! I mean, there's a big difference in respect for authority and like, respecting a woman, y'know? I'm not saying you should like, objectify or hold her in lower regard or anything. But she's never really cared about being a noble. She's been surrounded by dozens of people in her life treating her like she's nothing _but_ a noble, like there's nothing else to her other than being a noble. Which means all of her interactions with them where the same. Deference and respect to her position but no real interest in the person that held that position. You get what I'm saying right? Please tell me you do because I don't think I can explain it any better."

Xisheng finished off what was left of his dinner as he mulled it over. "Essentially what you're saying is that the attitude of servants and deference to her position bores her, right?"

"Yeah, exactly! Like, she's dealt with a hundred of those guys in her life. And as far as I can tell, you've kind of been one of those guys with her too so far. So you're just another bore in a big sea of bores because you're no different than all those other people she never cared about at all."

"You know, you're almost as good as Azula at insulting people very subtly."

"Sorry, but that's probably how it is from her point of view… like you were totally on track when you snapped at her earlier. I know that sounds weird, but it's something that set you apart from a bunch of nameless faces. None of her family's servants would ever _dream_ of doing something like that."

Xisheng was silent for another moment. "So... this all amounts to essentially 'don't treat her like anything special'?"

"Er… yes?"

"That… sounds like awful advice in regards to being on good terms with a girl."

Ty Lee gave him an apologetic smile. "Admittedly, this is all kind of stuff I just guessed at. It's not like Mai ever like, spilled her heart out to me or anything."

"So what you're saying is that it's just as possible that she does expect and want me to defer to her position of nobility and doing otherwise could easily get one of many lethal weapons buried in my jugular?"

"Arguably, yes."

The soldier glanced stoically in the direction of the Overlord and the woman in question. "Somehow your ability to reassure is both the best and worst I have ever been subjected to."

* * *

Back in Omashu, the dethroned King Bumi was in his metal cell, still trapped within his steel coffin. He'd been whistling some tune he couldn't remember the name or origin of when the new governor, Ukano, entered the cell, followed by six Firebenders. This event brought a cold snap to Bumi's train of thought and all of his plotting, for at this moment he realized he had severely underestimated one particular trait of his foe.

"Governor, I'd say it's nice to see you again, but I get the feeling I won't quite like the news you're here to give me."

To his credit Ukano looked entirely uncomfortable with the situation, which was evidence enough that what was about to happen was not his idea.

"I'm… afraid not. I… I want you to know that I do not agree with this, but by explicit orders from her Highness the Crown Princess…"

Bumi smiled, despite feeling no merriment at the moment. "Execution, yes? I was prepared for this eventuality. I figured someone would have the brains to do me in eventually."

Ukano actually looked apologetic. He had always been a man of politics, not the necessities of war. "I'm… truly sorry-"

"Oh, don't be Governor. I'm not taking it personally. Honestly it's a smart move by the Princess. Why take all the risks of keeping an Earthbender like me alive and kickin, and in a city I know better than anyone no less? I'm too dangerous to be left alive and there's no benefit to doing so. Heck, all of the people in Omashu that were willing to fight have already left. Even if my death is publicized none of the remaining citizens will be galvanized enough to revolt. I'll admit that I played my hand poorly. I didn't think the Fire Lord's daughter would be quite this ruthless at such a young age."

"I know it's not much consolation, but… I'd like to at least offer you a choice in the matter…"

"I don't suppose letting me die of old age is an option?"

Ukano hesitated a moment before realizing this was supposed to be some sort of morbid joke. "I… don't believe the Princess would find that acceptable."

"Phooey. Worth a shot. Well then, surprise me! After all, at this old age death is the only real surprise, ruining it would make me a pretty bad sport, don't you think?"

Descending into cackling laughter, Ukano led his entourage back out of the cell, closing the door behind him. He spent a few moments pondering his macabre task before simply turning to the captain of his guards.

"Captain, what would be the most humane way of doing this?"

Factual to the letter, the soldier didn't seem emotionally invested in this situation at all. "We could fill the chamber with gas sir. He'd pass out before dying. Wouldn't feel a thing."

Still reluctant to give the order, Ukano knew he had no choice in the matter. "So be it. When it is done, preserve the body. Her Highness wishes for it to be plausible that he died of old age some months from now."

"Yes Sir."

With that, Ukano left the men to their morbid task, resigned to drown his guilty conscience on the matter in the arms of his wife or at the bottom of a bottle. And somewhere in the back of his mind, he worried for his eldest daughter that happened to be traveling with the ruthless and calculating girl that had ordered this execution of a prisoner.

Back in his cell, Bumi's face lit up just as gas started pouring into the room through it's vents. "Hey! I just remembered the last line of that song!"

He took a deep breath of the air that was slowly being poisoned and bellowed out the last line in the deepest voice he could manage.

"And diiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

* * *

 **Using your beloved 'Secret Tunnel' song as a spot of seriously dark humor, brought to you by Shadow0Fire. I'll be here all night, thank you.**

 **Real talk, if it wasn't made somewhat obvious by now, this story WILL reach an M rating... eventually. At some point in the future, likely not particularly soon. The reason for this will primarily be for two things; more visceral descriptions of combat, death, etc. and sex. Like I said before we're taking a more realistic approach to Avatar in this fic and that includes all the things that are included in reality, such as actually killing people in war (and how brutal that killing would be with elemental powers) and how important (and normal) sexual attraction is in healthy romantic relationships.**

 **I'm telling you this now because, well, it wasn't made especially clear before now that these things would be in the story. So if stuff like that is not up your alley because you're a prude, squeamish, or just not into that kind of thing, this is your chance to get out while you're ahead and not get any more invested in this fic than you already are seeing as how you're like, five chapters in.**

 **If it's any consolation I'm not the kind of writer that includes gratuitous gore or smut just for shits and giggles. If (more accurately when) those things occur it'll either be to express the reality of conflict or because healthy teenagers in love not wanting to get down is total bullshit and pretending like lust is nonexistent in young love is skipping out on a shit ton of excellent character development (and character relationship) material.**

 **Phew! Now that all of that is out of the way, you may now return to being shocked/angry/mildly impressed that I killed a widely liked character. And since you now remember that I'm going to go hide in a bunker, hoping my witty dialogue choices will be enough to entertain you and thus keep you from killing me.**


	6. Masquerade

**Holy crap this chapter is so freaking long. It might actually be the longest one in any of my stories. Why did I do this to myself?  
**

* * *

On his second day of driving the Overlord to Gaoling, Xisheng had enough ire to curse the whole world a thousand times over. For one, he was up at an ungodly hour of the morning to get the vehicle on its way again, because Azula had explicitly told him when she wanted them to move out the day before.

Five in the morning wasn't even the crack of dawn.

No, the light of the sun was only just starting to illuminate the darkness of night when Xisheng woke up, in that fashion where you knew it was arriving but could still see no real trace of it. The fashion in which that light had not even managed to change the tint of the sky yet.

So yeah, he was up really fucking early.

On top of that, he had not slept well in the slightest. As he had predicted, the inside of the driver's cabin was ill-equipped for sleeping. The chair wasn't adjustable beyond how close or far it was from the controls, meaning it couldn't lean back for some semblance of a bed. And even if it did, it was hard as hell, being solid steel.

So naturally he had elected to sleep outside. That posed its own fair share of problems as well. For one, he had not come equipped for outdoor camping. He had nothing even remotely akin to a sleeping bag, and even though the grass and the dirt was still softer than the metal chair of the Overlord, it was definitely a far cry from comfortable.

And on top of _that_ , the Earth Kingdom was lacking in a tropical climate like the Fire Nation had. When the warm rays of the sun were absent from the sky, it could actually grow fairly chilly without any normal means of warmth.

Of course Xisheng could keep himself warm, being a Firebender and all, but the problem with that was it wasn't an automatic process. He had to actually focus and actively _do something_ to keep himself warm, and as most people knew, those two things were rather counterproductive when it came to sleep.

So in short, Xisheng had not slept very long overall, and the few hours he did sleep were constantly interrupted by chills and the general discomfort of the ground.

So he was in a distinctly bad mood as he sat in the driver's cabin of the Overlord, checking all of its instruments and roughly calculating how far it could travel on its current coal reserves. Considering how droll the experience had been the day before, Xisheng was not eager to go about driving in a straight line for several hours with little sleep. At least if he passed into an unexpected slumber the Overlord would come to a stop of its own accord when it ran out of immediate fuel. Other than that, the passengers of the vehicle would be fine in almost any scenario because the Overlord could smash into nearly anything and sustain minimal damage. Short of falling off a cliff no one would die if Xisheng succumbed to sleep.

Though he supposed he could maybe die since Azula would likely interpret that as incompetence and endangering the life of royalty.

Either way, he was not especially keen on his surroundings at the moment since the fog of an early awakening still weighed heavily on him, but even so he did not miss the very slight sound of someone resting their boots on the steel floor of the cabin.

Xisheng knew he had left the door open, mostly for ventilation, but he was honestly more curious about who would have any reason to be up at the same time as him. Of course, there were only three options.

Considering Azula's penchant for getting up at the crack of dawn, she appeared to be the most likely choice. But the thing was, it _wasn't_ the crack of dawn yet. And throughout Xisheng's brief experience with the Princess, she never woke up before that. Maybe later, but certainly not earlier.

He also supposed it could be Ty Lee, because her overall enthusiasm and bubbliness practically guaranteed she was more of a morning person than the rest of them. And Xisheng could not at all fathom why Mai would ever be up this early, because she seemed to hate sunlight at any time of the day, never mind the early morning.

It quickly occurred to Xisheng that there was a very easy solution to his query, which was simply looking at the open doorway to identify his visitor. Much to his downright shock, it actually _was_ Mai, the girl looking about as tired as he was, lazily reclining against the edge of the door frame as she stifled an unbecoming yawn.

Aside from her existence in that particular spot in and of itself, Xisheng noted that she wasn't appearing as he usually saw her either. Apparently going through the full routine this early in the morning was too much for her to bother with, made obvious by the lack of the red stitches of her garments that usually went over the baggy black parts that hid her plethora of weapons. She had spent time to fix her hair in the usual style though, which seemed strange all things considered. Why was that the one thing she'd bother with this early?

Either way, Xisheng was actually so surprised by the last person he expected that he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. By social standards he probably should have offered a good morning, but they were both scowling with the fatigue of an early awakening and neither would think he actually meant it. It was a shit morning, no need to pretend otherwise.

Thankfully he didn't have to say anything, because when she actually had something to say Mai wasn't the kind of person to hesitate about it.

"Teach me how to drive the Overlord."

This short sentence that was definitely along the lines of a demand rather than a request stunned Xisheng into even further silence. Even so, he managed to get the most important response out eventually.

"…what?"

The girl in question didn't seem put off by his reply in the slightest. In fact, it looked like she thought the explanation should have been obvious.

"You said yesterday that I should try driving."

Recalling the incident that he was mildly ashamed of, Xisheng tried to clarify that he hadn't actually meant that. "I didn't actually suggest that you should…"

"But it carried the implication. So, teach me how to drive the Overlord."

Xisheng questioned whether or not he should give in, but ultimately he asked himself why he wasn't. He had already decided that he wasn't looking forward to driving today, and someone else was offering to do it for him. Still, he felt the need to clarify why exactly Mai wanted this.

"I suppose I can, but… you do realize you're asking to do grunt work, right?"

"Well I'd be replacing you, so that was obvious, yes."

Trying and failing to ignore the quite potent sting of those words, Xisheng continued on. "So why do you want to? No offense but I know for certain it's not because you feel bad about me doing all the work."

The unapologetic look on Mai's face made it very clear that Xisheng was indeed right about that. As for giving him an actual answer, she simply shrugged. "I've never done it before."

To hear such a basic answer from her made Xisheng wonder if he had seriously misinterpreted a part of Mai's character so far. "That's it? That's your only reason?"

She cocked a slender eyebrow at him. "Is there supposed to be another reason for doing things you haven't done before?"

Conceding to that very valid point, Xisheng shrugged at the overall unexpectedness of the situation. Mai was the last person he had expected to see this morning, and by far the last person he had expected to take on what even she clearly defined as grunt work (yes, he had expected her to avoid it even more than Azula), but here she was and that was what she wanted to do. Who was he to question good fortune?

"Well alright. I already checked all the instruments, so take that seat there and I'll tell you what all the controls do. And since we may as well get underway now, go ahead and close the door please."

Xisheng wondered if a noble lady had any issue with effectively being told what to do by someone of his status, but as he moved to shovel some coal into the engine she didn't utter any form of dissent or malcontent.

With the engine fueled and the Overlord essentially ready to go, Xisheng peeked his head out of the door one last time to make sure they wouldn't be driving off without something important. He had already corralled all of the Mongoose Lizards back into their car when he had first woken up, and the passenger car with the other humans being ferried was closed as well. Honestly Xisheng wondered how Mai had made an exit from the thing without waking everyone else up, but maybe there was another way out that didn't include the amateur hydraulics?

Either way it seemed like they had everything in order, so Xisheng locked the door back in place and took the second cabin seat that existed only for the coal shoveler to rest in between bouts of, well, shoveling coal.

Considering that he had pretty much only driven the Overlord for a single day before now, Xisheng found it kind of funny that he was teaching someone else how to do so. Still, the machine was a lot simpler than it looked at first, and it didn't actually take a lot of learning to get the ropes.

Besides, he got the feeling Mai had enough mental acuity about her to not have an issue learning something simple like this, and that feeling was proven accurate as soon as he finished detailing where each critical control was. Basically, the sticks for steering and the emergency brake that Xisheng had found no use for the day prior.

In but a few minutes of explanation regarding the nature of its momentum and controls, the Overlord was already moving towards Gaoling once again, just with a different driver.

If Mai found the whole process as entertaining as she had hoped it might be, it didn't show on her face. Her only expression was lazy tiredness as she peered out of the small view port that allowed her to drive without complete blindness.

Considering that there was very little for Mai to focus on now other than drive straight, Xisheng felt this was a good time to clarify something that was bothering him greatly.

"Why on earth were you up this early anyway?"

Mai didn't even glance at him. "How was I going to usurp your throne if I wasn't awake when you were going to start driving?"

This was a fair point as far as that was concerned, since there would very well be no breaks or anything until they made many hours' worth of progress, but it just raised more questions.

"Wait, so you intentionally woke up this early just so you could drive this thing? You actually wanted to give it a try that badly?"

"Since the answer to that is obvious, I hope you aren't a complete moron and that you're asking that rhetorically."

Left dumbfounded by the facts presented to him, Xisheng fell silent. How often did any noble actually want to work? So much so that they would do something they hated to make it happen?

Well, to be fair he didn't think Mai actually had any great specific interest in driving the Overlord. As she had said herself, the only reason she had for doing this was because she had not done it before, which lent some credence to Xisheng's earlier speculations that perhaps Mai didn't have anything she particularly cared a great deal about. After all, you had to be extremely desperate to find anything entertaining to pull all this.

That said, now was a perfect opportunity to actually discern a thing or two about Mai, as she certainly wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. It was just a matter of getting her to actually say anything worthwhile.

"So-"

"Don't."

Cut off before he could even get close to beginning, Xisheng cocked an eyebrow at her. "Don't what?"

The possibly palest girl he had ever been acquainted with still didn't grace him with her gaze. "I can tell that you're about to ask a bunch of extremely grating questions to try and get to know me or something. Don't. I'm not interested in learning about you. I'm not interested in having you learn about me. So don't bother."

Stopped in his tracks rather easily, Xisheng almost bowed his head like a good soldier would to the demands of a noble lady, but he then recalled exactly what Ty Lee had said to him about this particular situation just last night.

Of course Ty Lee herself had said that she had just been hypothesizing, and for all she knew everything she had guessed at could have been wrong. Mai could have been a firm believer of social class that would be outraged at a common soldier daring to do anything remotely out of line.

Then again, Ty Lee could be right, and maybe Mai was so bored with the whole noble shtick that she would actually appreciate someone disregarding her social standing entirely.

Ultimately Xisheng decided he would be no worse off for giving it a shot. After all, even if he did end up angering or offending Mai, she couldn't really kill him right? Surely Azula would not be happy about something like that, as it then meant that one of them would have to drive this machine all the time.

Settling on exactly how cheeky he could be without being stupid, Xisheng opened his mouth to speak once again. "Right. Well, my interest in military service began when I was roughly-"

"What are you doing?"

Not even bothering to look at the no doubt sour expression of his compatriot, Xisheng gave his answer as innocently as possible. "Talking about my life of course. It starts off pretty boring, but it gets pretty interesting when we get to the part about killing a magic fish that will in turn kill the moon."

Mai entirely ignored that last part because it actually did sound rather interesting, even if it also sounded entirely insane. "So are you deaf or stupid? Which reason is the one that kept you from understanding 'I'm not interested in learning about you'?"

"Well I understood that part, but I just don't care that you don't care."

It was at this point that Mai finally glanced at him directly, supposedly because he had said something of actual interest. Xisheng couldn't help but notice that she sported the dark bags of poor sleep all the same as he probably did, but strangely enough it didn't actually look all that bad on her. The darkness kind of brought out the brighter aspects of her orange eyes all the same as her hair did.

Still, the next words out of her mouth weren't exactly pleasant. "Then as a member of nobility I'm ordering you to shut up and stop bothering me."

For a second time, Xisheng was tempted to do as he was told. He was a soldier after all, and his entire career revolved around obeying orders. But as he sat in that seat for a moment, he realized that he had absolutely zero reason obey anything Mai said. Yes, she was a member of nobility, and even upper echelon nobility at that, but so what? Last time Xisheng checked, the military didn't answer to nobles on any level unless those nobles were put in charge by someone the military did answer to, like the Fire Lord.

And last time he checked, Azula had never actually put Mai in charge of anything. Even if he were still a corporal, Xisheng would not be obligated in any way to be subservient to her. The only person he answered to around here was Azula. As far as everyone else was concerned, they were essentially equals. Even social class wasn't really withstanding because Mai's upper class didn't really bear any weight on Xisheng's lower class. The fact that she was a noble and he was not literally meant nothing other than the fact that she had been raised differently than him.

So with that in mind, Xisheng decided to press the envelope just a little bit, and he hoped he wasn't about to get stabbed for it.

"I don't take orders from you."

It was not said with any defiance or outright hostility. It was just a factual statement, yet it nevertheless garnered him Mai's full attention. "What?"

"The nobility of the Fire Nation has no command over military entities of any scope unless that authority has been granted to them by a member of the military hierarchy. I'm under no obligation to treat you any differently from a typical citizen of the country."

For a moment, Xisheng was sure he had crossed the line and that he was going to have some sort of blade slid between his ribs and jammed into his kidneys. But after a moment in which Mai's expression actually registered some amount of surprise, she actually _smiled._

Well, it wasn't a smile really. It was actually an almost completely imperceptible shift of her lips from one position to the other, something he could have never noticed if he weren't looking right at her from a foot away, but either way it was the kind of shift that denoted the surprise she had felt as actually being _pleasant._

It barely lasted more than half a second, and in that time the raven haired beauty turned her attention back to where she was guiding the Overlord. Nothing about the situation changed. Her tone was still entirely neutral and she looked just as tired and uninvested as she had before. The only thing that changed at all was the words she was actually saying.

"No, I guess you aren't. But I still don't want to talk about your life. According to you it's immensely boring right up until a few months ago."

Realizing he had indeed worded his own life in such a fashion, Xisheng nevertheless smiled to himself, feeling as though he had accomplished something monumental here. How many other people had gotten this icy woman to actually open up even the tiniest fraction? Exactly two as far as he knew.

"Well to be fair I certainly didn't have very interesting companions until recently. Now I'm completely surrounded."

"Consider yourself lucky to be brought into the fold this late in life."

A little worried about what he might discover if he read too much into that, Xisheng decided that he needed to find a new topic that would actually interest his partner now that he had gotten her to accept that he was going to talk one way or another. Ty Lee had told him that Mai hated to be bored, and that meant he had to avoid being boring. It was just too bad that Mai seemed to be bored by almost everything. _Almost._

"Jian or Dao?"

Now this actually earned a real smirk out of Mai. She had to admit, Gohan here was at least clever compared to most other people that had tried to get her to fraternize in her life. At least he was smart enough to focus on the one thing she had an obvious interest in, that being weapons. She was willing to give him credit for that.

"You really do love questions with obvious answers. Everyone knows the superior sword is..."

* * *

For the briefest of moments when she had first awoken that morning, Azula had been worried that Mai had somehow been left behind when the Overlord went into action, considering her absence from the passenger car when they had started moving.

Thankfully, her somewhat irrational concern was soothed when she could hear the faint voices of conversation through the communications piping that ran between the passenger car and the driver's cabin. After all, considering that Ty Lee was still in the car with her, there was only one pair that could be in the driver's cabin.

That said she had been utterly surprised to learn that Mai was there for any reason whatsoever. Naturally Azula had been more than a little keen on discerning her motives, but eavesdropping over the communication system had revealed nothing of note at all. They were simply discussing (with surprising vigor considering that Mai was one of the conversationalists) the merits of different weapons and the like. A far cry from the scandalous things Ty Lee had foolishly stated when she had first learned of the situation.

Having quickly dismissed the situation at first, it wasn't until several hours into the voyage that it was brought to Azula's attention again in a rather roundabout manner, thanks to Ty Lee's incessant babbling with nothing else to do other than talk.

"-and you know, he didn't even ask about the circus thing. He just asked about me. It was so sweet! He even said he would watch me perform anytime I wanted, and that was kind of embarrassing but I think I'll take him up on that if I catch him with free time, because he's really attentive and I bet-"

Hardly able to focus on the book of military strategy she was reading with all of this noise, Azula lowered said book so she could cast a displeased glare at her friend. Naturally she wasn't very supportive of what was currently making Ty Lee smile. Not that she was ever actively trying to put the acrobat down, but she was usually the voice of negativity as opposed to Ty Lee's optimism. In hindsight it was unfair for Ty Lee because Mai was always the voice of pessimism as well.

"Ty Lee, why are you ranting so much about this? Your whimsical affections are entirely wasted on the person in question."

While this did stop Ty Lee cold for a whole two seconds, it just gave rise to more talking. "What are you talking about? Wait, you aren't actually going to take him for yourself right? You told me you weren't interested before."

For the life of her Azula had no idea how her friend had reached such a ridiculous conclusion. "What? No. I'm certainly not going to sully myself with someone beneath my station. I was reminding you that the situation is no different for you. You're a member of Fire Nation nobility, you can't stoop to the level of a commoner. Your fellow caste members would lose all respect for you."

It took a moment for Azula to realize that her friend was leveling an incredulous look at her, which was actually quite rare for the acrobat. "What are you giving me that look for?"

That it wasn't immediately obvious only seemed to confuse Ty Lee further. "Seriously Azula? I ran away from my life of nobility to join the circus. _The circus._ Do you really think I care enough about our social rules to not get attached to someone of a lower class? I don't care what class Xisheng is a part of. He's nice and thoughtful."

Trying to ignore the fact that she should have indeed considered Ty Lee's personal circumstances, Azula scoffed. "I'm sure you could find someone 'nice and thoughtful' who also has a lot of money and political influence. I still don't get your point."

Surprisingly, Ty Lee scoffed back. "If by 'nice and thoughtful' you mean 'some guy who would only want me as a trophy wife to show off to all of his noble friends,' then sure. You know Azula, do you even consider Xisheng a person? Is the fact that he's not a noble or something that important?"

"Don't be ridiculous Ty Lee. _Of course_ I see him as a person. After all, how can I know the best ways to ensure his loyalty and competence if I don't at least understand the aspects of humanity that allow me to manipulate him?"

While she saw no flaw in her answer whatsoever, Ty Lee frowned at her in a way that could have been sorrow for both Xisheng and Azula's sake. "That's really sad Azula. You'd have his loyalty all the same if you thought of him as a friend. That's how you got me and Mai to help with all of this. Because we're your friends."

"Oh, so you wouldn't have assisted me as subjects to the Fire Nation Princess?"

"Wouldn't that just make us soldiers? Apparently you don't think very highly of soldiers."

Raising the book she had been reading to peruse its pages once again, Azula nevertheless put some real thought into that one. Truthfully, the reason she felt more comfortable with Mai and Ty Lee around rather than an entire contingent of Royal Guards was indeed because they were her friends. She trusted them more deeply than the oaths of any soldier, which could be bought and swayed with coin or promised influence. But in that case, was she not perfectly justified in treating Xisheng as exactly nothing more than a soldier?

"I don't see your point Ty Lee. The lieutenant is a soldier. I am holding him in the exact regard a Princess is supposed to hold a soldier. I see no reason I should treat him any differently than any other soldier I've ever commanded. Don't let your personal misgivings about uniformity evolve into nonsense."

Ty Lee scowled at that, considering it a low blow to mention something unrelated to the situation but important to her just because it bore some coincidental similarities. In the end though she simply laid back on her bed to drop the conversation.

"Whatever. I'll just steal him from you when you don't need him anymore…"

Azula expected such a statement to relieve her since it meant Ty Lee would stop talking for a while, but ultimately it did no such thing. In fact, it actually _irritated_ her a bit, and at first she couldn't tell why.

Never content to be confused with her own feelings, the Princess of the Fire Nation broke down Ty Lee's exact words to see what had bothered her so. The most important word was obviously 'steal.' You couldn't steal something unless it belonged to someone else to begin with.

Was that it? The idea of someone stealing something that was hers? After all, Xisheng _was_ hers. Her soldier, her pupil, her _tool._ What right did anyone have to take something she owned?

In fact, wasn't Ty Lee doing that every time she got all friendly with him? She took his attention away from his duties, which included serving and protecting Azula. So yes, she temporarily lost something she owned at those times, and the idea of it angered her.

Logically, Azula's rational mind was capable of telling her that no harm was being done, that Xisheng still performed his duties admirably and to the letter regardless of any time he spent with others. But the irrational side of her, which was actually quite a bit larger than she would ever admit, still said that it pissed her off.

In a moment of clarity, Azula realized this was no different than her young days in the palace, where, being the youngest daughter of the Fire Lord's youngest son, she was almost always overlooked in favor of others. Azulon was always paying attention to his eldest son, her father was always paying attention to his elder brother, her mother was always paying attention to her favorite child.

That last one really stirred her ire, but Azula quickly forced it down with dismissal. As if she could possibly suffer from something as pathetic as craving attention. That was literally Ty Lee's problem. Such things were beneath her.

And because they were beneath her, she decided against the suggestions of her own mind in commanding Xisheng to forego any relation with her two friends. Because she would only need to make that order if she actually cared. And she didn't.

She was the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation, the only Firebender to ever manifest azure flames, and one of the few Firebenders in the world and all of history that could shoot bolts of lightning from her fingertips.

If other plebeians were too dense to realize how great she was, that was completely on them, because it didn't bother her in the slightest.

Not. At. All.

* * *

"I've got to say, this was actually a huge letdown. This might be the most boring thing I've ever done. It practically spawns boredom of its own."

Xisheng was not surprised to hear these words out of Mai's mouth as he shoveled more coal into the Overlord's engine. After all, he got it. Driving the Overlord in a straight line for hours on end was mind-numbingly boring. Honestly he probably should have given Mai fair warning before she started because he knew she had only volunteered to drive in hopes that it wouldn't be droll.

"It could get better. We'll be entering a small mountain range that cuts us off from Gaoling soon. That'll require a bit more finesse and challenge."

"You say that like I'm going to do your job for you all day."

"Well no, but… I mean you are going to at least stay in the cabin right?"

Mai was fairly certain that she could detect a hopeful tone in that question, which honestly surprised her. This guy was either incredibly lonely or totally desperate for a girl's attention in any form. It had to be one or the other for him to actually want Mai of all people to stick around.

Despite the fact that she was a little happy at the thought of being considered interesting, Mai's expression and tone remained as icy as always. "Well unless we stop I could hardly leap out the door. Unfortunately…"

While he may have actually been wounded by that before today, Xisheng had quickly come to realize that Mai poking subtle fun at people was actually her way of being friendly to some extent. In the 'I only joke around with people I don't outright detest' kind of way at any rate. Still, sometimes it was hard to know just how serious she was being considering the implacable nature of her existence all the time.

Xisheng liked to think that he had gotten on Mai's good side today, but maybe he hadn't made as much progress as he had thought. True, they had actually had a very real and even very invested conversation on Mai's part regarding all sorts of weapons, but having someone invested in a topic they actually cared about was no great feat. Even complete strangers could have an animated discussion about something that was important to them, and they would still part as strangers.

Neither had he managed to make her show any real positive emotion at all, along the lines of smiling or laughing. Then again, Xisheng admitted to himself that asking for that much on the first day of real interaction with her was probably too greedy of him. He should have been content with that fact that she had found him interesting enough to even speak to today, as opposed to all the other times she acted as though he weren't worth her attention.

"C'mon now, this is where things get interesting. You aren't even the slightest bit curious as to whether or not this thing can smash through a decent sized boulder?"

Mai cocked an eyebrow at him, almost like she were asking if he really thought something so masculine as pure destruction could entertain her. Surprisingly, she didn't say anything like that. "Is that really a safe thing to attempt? You don't sound sure that we'd actually win against a boulder."

Sensing that the raven haired girl may have actually been on board with the idea of ramming a boulder just for the hell of it, Xisheng smirked mischievously at her. "Well we _do_ have a rock-breaker for a prow. We'd be doing the Fire Nation a service by testing the capability of the machine, right…?"

Mai didn't smile back at him. But she did slowly nudge the accelerator stick forward, commanding the Overlord to gradually build speed. "That math adds up to me."

Xisheng's smirk widened a bit, and even though he still didn't get a smile back, he realized that Mai likely just had a different physical means of expressing the same feeling. In fact, he noted now that despite her usual neutrality, her eyes were extremely expressive. It was easy to tell when she was bored out of her mind. Easy to tell when something struck her as odd or even stupid. It was even easy to tell when she was actually amused, like she was right now. Despite having once told himself that Mai's midnight locks were the most attractive thing about her, Xisheng decided that perhaps he had been mistaken.

Taking his seat because it would hardly be a good idea to be standing if and when they hit something arguably as sturdy as the Overlord, Xisheng saw that they actually were already putting their theory to the test, as Mai had already spotted a decent sized boulder to ram some distance ahead. They were approaching it with almost as much speed as the Overlord could muster, and for a moment Xisheng wondered if he was a little too good at bringing out the recklessness in people, especially the people that he would not have imagined to have an ounce of recklessness in them until now.

This was especially true as he realized the boulder in question at the base of the mountains was a little larger than it looked from afar, but by now he and Mai were set in seeing just how well the Overlord could do its job.

Unfortunately (or fortunately since the outcome had the potential to be very bad), their very unsafe experiment was halted by the voice of the Princess echoing throughout the cabin, thanks to the communication system Xisheng had not even known existed until right now.

"Lieutenant, stop the vehicle."

It was a short and to the point command, and it was said in a tone that indicated Azula had no idea the driver was about to plow into a big rock. Still, that meant they had to stop their experiment, and Mai reached for that emergency brake that never got used.

Pulling on it did not bring the Overlord to a swift stop though. In fact, the lever she pulled launched the Overlord's large harpoon spikes, which rocketed forward with the power of steam and crashed into the boulder ahead of them with enough force to break the whole thing apart.

Realizing with some mild disappointment that she had made a stupid mistake and reached one lever too far to her right, Mai successfully got the brake the next time, which brought to Overlord to a slower stop than expected of an 'emergency' brake. Then again, one did not just instantaneously 'stop' a heavy steel vehicle.

When they came to a complete stop, Mai spared her partner in crime a scathing glare. "If anyone asks, ramming the boulder and firing the harpoons was all you."

Amused by her folly, Xisheng's expression had no problem saying as much. "If I agree to that, you owe me one."

"Fine. Whatever."

With that she sauntered out of the driving cabin, content that Xisheng was going to take the blame for any idiocy. As for the soldier himself, he found it kind of adorable that someone so serious was scared of looking silly.

Once he was finished shutting down the Overlord, Xisheng wasted no time in following Mai out of the vehicle, where he found all of the girls already waiting for him, with Azula glancing at the previously destroyed boulder in confusion. She turned that confusion on Xisheng with a cocked eyebrow as soon as he was within her sight.

Understanding her silent question, Xisheng allowed the mirth at his revelations regarding Mai's character to seep into his answer. "My apologies Princess, but that boulder was doing an excellent impression of Admiral Zhao's... 'eccentric' facial structure, sideburns and all, and I could only interpret that as an act of mockery for the Fire Nation's most...er, 'fashionable' high commander. I simply did my duty as a patriotic soldier."

With Zhao's god-awful sideburns being nearly legendary across the upper echelon of Fire Nation society, Xisheng's jab did earn the slightest smirk from his Princess. Ty Lee looked totally lost, but this wasn't really surprising considering that she had been away from noble affairs for several years now.

On the other hand, Mai made some sort of extremely suppressed sound that could have, with a great stretch of imagination, be interpreted as a mildly amused expression. Maybe she did have a sense of humor?

Either way, Azula decided that the reasoning behind smashing a boulder with the Overlord's weapons was irrelevant. It was more important to inform the driver of why they had stopped. "I will take your word for the ghastly visage of the rock in question Lieutenant. However, we have something more important to discuss while Ty Lee tends to the animals."

The acrobat in question made a sour face at being handed this job without any real consideration, but she accepted it anyway since she knew she was indeed the most qualified member of their party to do it. Still, she was determined to have someone treat her a little nicer today, even if it was just Xisheng talking to her for a few minutes at the end of it.

With that she walked off to perform her assigned duty, and Mai made a subtle show of stretching her tired limbs before retreating to the beds of the passenger car, leaving Azula and Xisheng by their lonesome and allowing the soldier to quickly become more professional.

"There is something of import to discuss, your Highness?"

The young ruler to be stared him down with intense amber focus, seemingly contemplating her response before actually allowing some semblance of relaxation to reenter her expression.

"Do not mistake me Lieutenant; this isn't an especially urgent matter, but when Ty Lee mentioned it was about time for the Mongoose Lizards to be let out, I figured now was as good a time as any to bring this up, as it will be very important later."

"My attention is entirely yours, Princess."

Azula was unusually pleased to hear that, considering that such undivided attention was owed to her by birthright. Maybe it was because that attention was being afforded to her by someone that was not just another peon doing their job.

Granted, Xisheng was 'just another peon,' but he was one that had some level of relationship with Azula beyond that of mere soldier and royal. That didn't necessarily mean anything, but it was clear that Xisheng held her in some regard that was not just 'daughter of the Fire Lord,' and that felt nice, even though Azula never admitted it to herself. There was a reason she only had two friends, and that they were friends that knew her beyond a mere title.

Still, there was something important that needed to be discussed, and it needed to be discussed as Princess to soldier. "Tell me Lieutenant, have you killed anyone before? I'd assume you have, being in the military during a global scale war, but you never know."

Xisheng did not know why this question was being asked of him, but he knew that Azula was not the kind of person to utter words that didn't serve some critical purpose. "I have, your Highness."

If this was the answer Azula had wanted to hear, it did not show on her face. She merely continued her line of inquiry. "And I assume the majority of the people you have killed have been enemy combatants, and likely adults?"

The ascended soldier was growing more confused about this line of questioning, but he stayed faithful in his answers. "I would consider some of my foes in past battles to be just shy of adulthood, but for the most part, yes. The enemies I have slain have been primarily soldiers of the Earth Kingdom, some of them young and others old men. Your Highness, if I may inquire, why do you ask this of me?"

Instead of giving a straight answer, Azula glanced off to the side where Ty Lee was efficiently controlling the Mongoose Lizards in their attempts to stretch and enjoy the open space. While she couldn't see her from this angle, Azula was indirectly looking at Mai as well.

"Xisheng, are you aware that you are the only person who has the blood of other human beings on their hands here? The only one guilty of snuffing out human life?"

The gravitas Azula put into this question conjured forth an image of that young Water Tribe boy Xisheng had killed at the North Pole. He was fully aware of the blood that stained his hands, but he was not rendered off-balance by Azula's words. He had long since come to terms with the reality of being a soldier in wartime. He bore no guilty conscious for the enemies he had slain over the years, now nearing the several dozens thanks to the frantic front-line battles on the EK defensive line.

Still, he couldn't tell if Azula was simply stating a fact or actually expressing some sort of displeasure with him. Her tone was too guarded.

"I... imagined that to be so before now, Princess. I certainly did not think you or your friends were sullied by blood, all things considered."

Azula seemed to accept 'all things considered' at face value. She at least didn't seem offended. "Indeed. As I'm sure you can easily imagine, Ty Lee has never even dreamed of dealing a fatal blow to another person. She abhors true violence, at least as far as engaging in it herself. I can only speculate on whether or not she would be willing to kill an opponent to save even her own life."

Xisheng got the feeling he knew where this conversation was going, but he dared not interrupt the Princess yet.

"And Mai, well... honestly I think she would be perfectly fine with killing someone under the right circumstances, but those circumstances would have to include something very important to her, and by now I'm sure you've determined that those are few and far between. She prefers to merely immobilize the enemy if the situation calls for nothing more."

Xisheng stayed silent as Azula spared her own nails a glance, likely ensuring that she bore no imperfections, though he supposed it could have just been a casual mannerism for her. "As for me... I admit that I am curious as to what it would be like to rob someone else of life. I truly do enjoy learning you see; the more experience you have in all things the better you are for it, even in violence. But the fact remains that I have not killed anyone yet, and though I personally think it very unlikely, there is always the possibility that I could... find myself unwilling to strike a fatal blow."

As he had predicted, this conversation had ended up right where Xisheng had expected it to be. Yet he found it strange, the idea of Azula of all people balking at the thought of killing another human being.

Then again, she wasn't. She was merely expressing the possibility of it in the future. She even thought it an unlikely possibility. But Xisheng knew that no one was certain of their ability to kill until the first time they managed it. He himself had not been certain if he was capable of fatal blows until the first time he had almost been slain by an Earth Kingdom soldier. When it had become clear that he could choose between the life of his enemy and his own, the decision had not been hard to make.

But even prior to that, he had been trained as a soldier, with the expectation to kill enemies. It was something he had mentally prepared for prior to the battle in which he had done the deed. Azula on the other hand was a fourteen year old girl, who, despite being extremely talented in the art of war and combat, had lived a relatively sheltered life in which she had never been specifically expected to kill. Though she seemed ruthless in nearly everything, it was entirely possible she could find herself unwilling to strike a deadly blow when the time came upon her.

And that was why this conversation was happening. Why Azula uttered her next words with such firmness and clarity, not to mention a surprising amount of honesty.

"Xisheng, I'm relying on you to be willing to kill if the rest of us cannot bring ourselves to do it. When it comes down to it, whether you are the last line of defense or merely the chosen executioner because no one else is willing, I need to be absolutely certain of this: will you kill _anyone?"_

The emphasis on that last word revealed the true nature of the question. Azula was not asking if he would kill again. He was a soldier of a nation at war with another militant entity. Of course he would kill again. She was asking if he would be willing to kill anyone of any identity. If he would be willing to kill people that were not soldiers. People like the Avatar and his allies, all of who were children near Azula's own age.

The answer to this question was more convoluted than the first one. Xisheng had no issue with killing soldiers. They were paid to be put in harm's way, or fought for some cause they were willing to die for. They ran the risk of being killed by the very nature of their careers, and they would certainly kill the soldiers of their enemies as well.

Children were another matter. Normally, children were regarded as innocents. For any honorable soldier, killing an innocent was unacceptable, or at least considered immoral and even evil at times. War was waged against nations, but not against the people of that nation, at least in theory. Xisheng of course knew that war in practice was rarely so clear cut, and for many reasons. Sometimes it was 'collateral damage.' Other times it was 'acceptable casualties.' And in some cases it was just a matter of total war, in which case the enemy could only be defeated by striking at the very foundation of their society, that being its people.

Ironically, none of those things really played a role in Xisheng's thought process at the moment. There were only two things he really had to consider.

The first was, of course, a matter of defending his own. This naturally included the fact that it was his duty as a soldier to defend the Princess at any cost, including his life or that of an 'innocent,' but more prominent was the need to protect people important to him. He held no delusions about his relationship to everyone on this particular mission. He had not known them for very long, nor did he know any of them particularly well. But even at the admittedly shallow levels of his familiarity with them, he would destroy another life to save one of theirs in a heartbeat, duty and obligation completely notwithstanding.

The emotional part of his decision aside, there was also logic to consider. Yes, the Avatar and his friends were all kids. Not a one of them could be considered even close to being an adult just yet. Under normal circumstances killing them would be considered the murder of innocents, but then again, these were not normal circumstances.

The Avatar and his group had established themselves as enemies of the Fire Nation. Not even as people who merely opposed them idealistically, but as combatants that were willing to attack military installations and assault Fire Nation soldiers. Loyal soldiers had been killed by their actions, in some cases indirectly, but in others quite the opposite. News from the raid on the Northern Air Temple had listed dozens of casualties, caused directly by the Avatar and his assembled fighters burying troops in snow or straight up knocking them off the mountainside.

Xisheng did not condemn them for this. As he had already concluded, soldiers ran the risk of death whenever they went to battle. But the moment anyone, even children, stepped onto that battlefield to fight, they were no longer innocents. If they chose to fight of their own volition, they were combatants, soldiers in their own right fighting for what they believed in. They could not simply be given a free pass, allowed to attack and even kill soldiers simply because they were not yet adults. In that light, Xisheng was more than willing to strike down even children like the Avatar's group; after all, they were no different from the Earth Kingdom soldiers he had faced before, and he made sure to tell Azula as much.

"Princess, I assure you that I will strike down any enemy that threatens your life, that of Lady Mai or Ty Lee, or any loyal soldier of the Fire Nation. Man, woman, or child, they will receive no quarter if it means protecting you."

There was an unabashed and earnest sincerity to Xisheng's answer, which could have been just a little disconcerting if one considered what he was talking about. But for Azula, it was exactly what she wanted to hear. And she had to admit, something about his specification of killing anyone for her sake was...comforting.

Naturally, one would normally consider her comfort over such a thing disconcerting as well.

"Very well then Lieutenant, I rest assured. I believe I've said this before, but I truly appreciate your unyielding loyalty."

Aware that he had probably already received more praise and gratitude from Princess Azula than most people ever would in their entire lives, Xisheng still managed to keep a smile from his face and answer as coolly as possible. "Think nothing of it Princess. Someone like you is deserving of such loyalty."

Even though she desired to get a little more specification on how exactly Xisheng meant that, Azula was denied the opportunity to inquire when Ty Lee sidled up behind Xisheng from the sidelines, assuming her usual position that included her arms snaked around his neck. Her expression was sly, almost like she believed herself to be in on something the rest of them were not.

"That one was really smooth Gohan. I bet you practice these lines in front of mirrors for hours just to steal girls' hearts away."

For his part, Xisheng appreciated the compliment but did not want to make it seem as such, for appearances if nothing else. He didn't want Azula to assume that he was actually attempting do anything along those lines to her, since such things were far beyond his boundaries. Thankfully he was fairly good at playing off awkward situations with quips of his own.

"That would be a very specific line for me to practice considering the very specific set of circumstances it could be used in..."

"Well c'mon Gohan, you have to have _some_ secret. I mean, first you get me with that conversation last night, then you hold an actual conversation with Mai for more than two minutes, and now you lay down a slick yet sincere line like that on Azula? You're either practicing or very... mm, _'gifted.'"_

Xisheng did not miss the way Ty Lee's arms tightened around him when she said that in the slightest of sultry tones, and neither did Azula. Of course the latter was not nearly as happy about it. The tinge of jealousy she had not entertained earlier that day flared up with renewed vigor, and even though Azula was once again a little unsure of the reasons for her emotions, she nevertheless decided to feed them in the most subtle and unobtrusive manner possible.

"Well, I do believe we should be on our way again if the Mongoose Lizards have caught their break Lieutenant. The sooner we are in Gaoling the better."

Ty Lee was not nearly as blind to Azula's scheme as the Princess made her out to be, and she was sorely tempted to take Mai's place in the driving cabin just to hang out with the only resident male even though she knew Azula was unhappy with that idea for some reason. But apparently Xisheng picked up on Azula's immediate displeasure as well, though he wasn't sure what to make of it in the slightest.

Either way, he figured it would be best if he drove the rest of the way to Gaoling on his own today. But he felt kind of bad about Ty Lee being snuffed out so rudely, so he made sure to give her a wide smile. "Provided the Princess' training at the end of the day doesn't render me unconscious, I'd love to spend the evening with you again Ty Lee. Like I said, you have my attention whenever I can provide it."

Despite her intention to, Ty Lee totally failed to offer a coherent response, simply trying to avoid looking like a giggling idiot as she retreated to the passenger car after Azula.

There was no way he didn't practice being so effortlessly smooth. But regardless of Ty Lee's belief on how he reached that level of unintentional (or was it?) flirting, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she fucking loved it.

* * *

The rest of the trip to Gaoling took two full days at full throttle, and required a stop at a Fire Nation outpost to refuel on coal reserves. The trip was by far one of the most boring experiences Xisheng had been subjected to at that point, for Mai never again joined him in the driver's cabin, and Ty Lee either chose not to or was coerced by Azula into not doing so for some reason the soldier couldn't fathom.

The driving itself had gotten slightly more interesting when they had gotten through the strange mix of sands and forest that was the border edge of the Si Wong desert, but Xisheng had been mistaken in ever finding the need to drive into the mountains. While the relatively small Yonbu mountain range separated Gaoling from both the Si Wong and essentially Omashu, the mountains themselves actually ended just shy of the route to Gaoling itself. There was no need to go over the mountains at all, as the west side of Gaoling was easily accessible from an easier path at the foot of the mountains instead.

The thickening forest had proved a problem of course. While Xisheng was sure the Overlord could topple some younger trees, the machine was certainly no match for century old trunks. Granted, maybe it could knock those trees over, but not while maintaining decent speed or a smooth ride. It was literally quicker and easier to go around. Thankfully hugging the foot of the mountains reduced the number of extremely large trees and thick forest that Xisheng had to deal with. Even so he had flattened more than a few small trees into the ground, something he felt a little bad about. Destruction was unavoidable in open combat, but in mere travel he would have preferred to skip on environmental destruction if he could manage it.

Thankfully, while the driving part of the trip was dull, the evenings of each day were not. As per the usual, people tended to interact more the longer they were around one another. Xisheng's evenings were definitely the highlight of the entire trip.

Naturally, those evenings included his usual training with Azula, since the young Princess was not content to miss a single day if she could help it. At least she always managed to keep training interesting, as she usually found something unique for him to do based on where he was. Their forest nights had been spent immolating trees, turning stalwart pillars of nature into smoldering ashes with sheer power. While Azula admitted to preferring small amounts of force applied precisely, she also made it clear that there was a time and place for raw power as well.

Of course, even though the exercise had mostly been about incinerating a large tree as quickly as possible, it had been a test of control as well. After all, the trees Azula had picked as his targets during these sessions were always surrounded by other foliage, so there was the whole notion of not starting a catastrophic forest fire.

Xisheng also noticed that Azula had significantly stretched out how long their evening sessions lasted. She had made them relatively quick before due to the timetable of their current operations, but for the past two nights their sessions had stretched out for nearly two hours. Xisheng wasn't presumptuous enough to guess why this was the case, but he got the feeling it could have possibly maybe been a tinge of jealousy. He just couldn't imagine why that would be true, so he simply chose to believe that Azula wanted him to train harder now that they could get into a fight with the Avatar at some point.

Another big part of why the evenings were enjoyable was because Mai had elected to not completely ignore his existence like she had before. Granted, she still didn't really go out of her way to talk to him, but she would at least talk back if he spoke first, provided he presented a topic she was at least mildly interested in. It left him with very little to start conversations with, but Xisheng had slowly zeroed in on a few more things Mai had an actual interest in. Humiliating tales of things her friends had done when they were young happened to be one of them, so long as the other girls were out of earshot.

But as usual, Ty Lee was his go-to girl for social interaction in the evenings. She was always so happy to see him. In fact, Xisheng was sure she had somehow grown even fonder of him since their meeting, though he wasn't sure why. If anything, he had only expected to grow fonder of her himself, since she was always so nice to him. He didn't know what he could have done to earn more of her surely platonic affection.

Either way, Ty Lee had been especially happy about the low branches the forest provided to her, as they served quite well for the acrobatics display she had shown her sole audience member for the past two nights.

She had been especially shy the first time she had brought it up, like she was afraid Xisheng would rescind his promise to watch her or something. That was ridiculous from his perspective of course, but he supposed this may have been the first time she had ever performed for just one person, which definitely carried a different weight to it compared to an entire crowd.

But his words of reassurance the first evening she had asked had wiped away all of the girl's fears. She'd made a wonderful display of agility and skill for him, and Xisheng had responded with no small amount of genuine praise, as he was truly impressed with Ty Lee's abilities and how effortlessly she did it all. He had actually put the biggest smile on her face he had ever seen on her, and he had thought that her smiles couldn't be any wider as it was.

In short, the days were boring as all hell, and the evenings were the only saving grace of the trip. By the time they reached Gaoling, Xisheng hoped he would not touch the Overlord again for at least three days. That steel chair was not doing him any favors.

That said, the group of high-profile Fire Nation natives were not actually in Gaoling just yet. After all, the city was still under Earth Kingdom control, and driving an obviously Fire Nation machine through its gates wasn't a good idea if they didn't want to fight against the sizable military force stationed there to ward off anything but full scale hostile incursions.

At the moment, the Overlord was simply parked on a hill far enough away from Gaoling to remain unseen, though the dense foliage of the forest certainly helped with that. All four of its usual passengers were standing atop said hill as they gazed down on their destination, each of their thoughts resting on the city in one way or another. Xisheng had no idea what the girls were thinking, but he knew his own thoughts, and they were worried.

Needless to say, this was about as 'belly of the beast' as one could get aside from being within Ba Sing Se itself. While Gaoling was mostly regarded as a merchant city, it was still one of the most prominent Earth Kingdom cities left under their control, and that meant a very large military force was garrisoned here. As essentially the only Royal Guard present, he was extremely concerned for Azula's safety here. Even a prodigy like her would fall before the might of an entire battalion. If there was one thing that was true about war, it was that skill didn't always outweigh sheer numbers.

Thankfully he doubted that they would be doing anything blatantly obvious to reveal who they were while present here. While he had no guarantee of that, Xisheng could not imagine Azula being so reckless with such poor odds.

But while he had that faith in her, he didn't know how they were going to go about it. After all, it was extremely obvious that they were Fire Nation...

Since this was a pressing concern, Xisheng decided to voice as much. "Considering our state of dress, it seems likely that one of us will have to procure appropriate apparel before we can enter Gaoling as a whole. Unless of course you were already prepared for this Princess?"

Azula looked mildly offended that he even entertained the possibility of her not being prepared. "I would have to be a monumental fool to leave Omashu, an Earth Kingdom city, without Earth Kingdom clothing to help us blend in at Gaoling, our destination that also happens to be an Earth Kingdom city. Do you really question my foresight to such an extent Lieutenant?"

Since it was just a little rude to think her capable of such an obvious oversight, Xisheng made sure to twist his own words so they sounded more favorable. "Of course not Princess. But you had a hand in so much of the logistics, it simply amazes me that you thought of everything even still."

His response earned a smirk out of the youngest member of their party. "You really do have a clever answer for everything Lieutenant. I'll have to put in extra effort to catch you unawares sometime."

"I'd prefer if you didn't feel the need to actually attempt such a thing, Your Highness."

"Too bad, because I do."

With no real counter for that, Xisheng let the exchange rest, which was just as well since he was promptly instructed to fetch the aforementioned clothes from the passenger car of the Overlord. Thankfully the garments had been properly stored in a footlocker of sorts so they would be in suitably presentable, but because Xisheng had no desire to lift the whole thing and carry it outside, he simply made to open the container and carry the much lighter cloth by hand.

The problem with that was that he didn't register the fact that most of the clothing in the container would be feminine in nature until he was already staring down at them, and he allowed two thoughts to coast through his mind before doing anything else.

One, why was there a need for disguise appropriate underwear? Outer garments were obvious, since those were actually seen. But what was the point of undergarments to match? Surely Azula wasn't so paranoid as to prepare for some hypothetical strip search, in which case their black Fire Nation silks would give them away? Honestly, that was either true paranoia or the most advanced level of preparation Xisheng had ever encountered.

The second thought was a little game of mix and match in guessing what particular style was being worn by which person, but Xisheng shut that one down as quickly as possible. Not that he had a moral issue with entertaining such thoughts, but all things considered the scantily clad mental images weren't conducive to a professional state of mind, which was probably what he needed for the upcoming mission.

Still, it was amusing to imagine the lacy ones as belonging to someone other than Ty Lee.

Deciding that the safest thing to do was obviously exclude himself of any undue blame, Xisheng decided that he was better off closing the footlocker and carrying the whole thing outside, giving the others the impression that he had most certainly not looked inside of it.

Apparently he made a good choice, because there was some look of mild relief from Ty Lee at least, and even Azula looked like she had been mildly irritated until spotting him with the entire container in his arms. Naturally Mai looked as though she couldn't care less, though she did seem to be staring rather intently at Gaoling at the moment.

Either way, Xisheng simply placed the container of clothing at the trio's feet, but apparently the nature of the goods did in fact register for everyone, because no one was immediately forthcoming in grabbing their respective attire. Naturally Azula sliced through whatever awkwardness was present with her usual expression of mild disdain for the obvious.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to give us some privacy?"

Aware that he and Azula were now locked in some sort of verbal combat in which she tried to make him falter, Xisheng decided that he was going to go all out as far as that was concerned. He was used to losing against Azula in combat, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon. But he was absolutely determined to keep his wits about him for their more clever contests.

"While I vehemently object to the gross dereliction of duty that is leaving you unguarded Princess, I suppose I have to consider your security in other regards as well. I'll be on the other side of the Overlord."

He made his exit with that, but Azula was left dwelling on what could have been a thinly veiled double meaning. "Just what the hell did he mean by that...?"

Ty Lee suppressed a snicker as she eyed the shortest member of their group, and thanks to her age, also the most undeveloped. "If you think about it he was being sweet, not wanting to make you feel bad and all..."

The heir to the Fire Nation throne turned a very unhappy golden glare on her friend. "Excuse me? I'll have you know I've gone up a full size since-"

Ever the mediator if only because she hated irritating discussions, Mai stepped between the two of them so she could appropriate whichever clothing suited her best from the small wardrobe Azula had brought along on their journey. She didn't know they were all the same outfit, just in different sizes. "You're both reading into it too much. He was just being clever. Also, there's no way he was out of earshot before you just said that Azula."

Doing a small amount of mental math to confirm Xisheng's distance at the time of her words, Azula realized with abject horror that yes, she had essentially just informed a grunt of the status of her feminine growth. Thankfully she had been vague, building off knowledge that Ty Lee had already known. Still, it was embarrassing to acknowledge the slip, and that was something rare for the girl who was never surprised, flustered, or flabbergasted by anything. After all, blushing was nothing more than the product of a lack of control. And Azula certainly had plenty of control. So the misstep she had just made and the information she had vaguely passed onto a man definitely wasn't making her blush. That was impossible.

Which meant that her two friends getting an obvious kick out of it was part of their imaginations, and Azula had to dispel them immediately. "N-no matter, I can dispose of him whenever I wish if he learns of something he shouldn't. Besides, you're the one 'disclosing' information so readily all the time Ty Lee, you certainly make no effort to hide your own, er... specifications."

The temporarily ex-circus member didn't seem ashamed of this fact in the slightest. "I don't think attractive women should be ashamed of their looks. It's silly to hide things about yourself just because other people don't like it whether it's good or bad. Jealousy or judgment, someone will always dislike something about you, so what's the point?"

Azula was actually impressed with this level of essential philosophy out of Ty Lee, but Mai naturally added her cynical input to the scenario. "That was the least arrogant way of saying 'I'm hot and should be able to flaunt it if I want to' that I've ever heard. Bonus points for subtlety."

"H-hey, that really wasn't the point I was making..."

The youngest of their number donned an amused smirk as she eyed the slightly more peeved than usual frown on Mai's face. "Speaking of jealousy..."

"That was the aforementioned judgment, not jealousy."

"Oh really? Tell me Mai, have you grown at all these past few years? It's difficult to judge from mere visual comparison, but I'm almost certain that I've surpassed you, which is honestly hilarious considering-"

The most barbed part of Azula's jab was cut short when one of the dark emerald garments of the footlocker was flung into her face. The giggle Ty Lee offered to the scenario earned her a similar treatment, and Mai chastised herself for getting bent out of shape over 'girl problems.'

* * *

Considering that they could very well be on a tight schedule if the Avatar was actually present in Gaoling at the moment, the girls' wardrobe change didn't take more than a few minutes. Truth be told Xisheng had heard something a little incriminating before getting out of earshot, but out of politeness he had removed himself further from the area so he wouldn't accidentally hear anything else personal. This placed him significantly further away from the Overlord than he had intended to be at first, but it gave him a bit of space and time to dwell on the situation at hand.

He was essentially in charge of security after all, being the only Royal Guard present here. The problem was that _he was the only Royal Guard present here._ There was very little he could plan for with that being the case. If their identities were discovered while in Gaoling, they'd have an entire Earth Kingdom battalion swooping down on them within an hour. With a lack of their own manpower, Xisheng's party had a very limited number of maneuvers to employ if escape became necessary. Normally enough manpower would call for a fighting retreat with each rear line of defense falling back as the Princess got further away from the danger, but since Xisheng was the only soldier here...

Well, he supposed he could attempt it anyway all by his lonesome. He'd probably die, but if it came down to it he'd have no choice but to try and distract the enemy so his allies could escape.

That said, it was really a matter of whether or not they would be discovered in the first place. As far as he knew Gaoling didn't have any thorough security checkpoints or anything, but even with their Earth Kingdom disguises there were risks to consider in the fact that most of the group didn't look like Earth Kingdom natives.

He said most because Ty Lee had nothing to worry about. She honestly had no outright 'Fire Nation' qualities, at least not as far as the general stereotypes went. Realistically Xisheng would probably be fine as well, since his eyes bore no resemblance to his nation (technically he was half Earth Kingdom anyway). But that was where the conveniences ended. Both Azula and Mai bore distinct features that could give them away to anyone who was decently informed or just a keen observer.

Azula's eyes were the most obvious risk, since her pure shade of amber was unique to the Fire Nation royal family. It was unlikely that any random Earth Kingdom soldier would know that in particular, but most everyone knew that amber eyes in general were rare outside of Fire Nation genetics. On top of that both Azula and Mai had very dark hair, and even though that wasn't unheard of outside of the Fire Nation, outright midnight locks like Mai's were generally assumed to be a rarity in the Earth Kingdom where most people sported various shades of brown. It wasn't a dead giveaway by any means, but it could arouse suspicion nevertheless.

There were plenty of other little things that could give them away as well. Xisheng had no idea how good the girls were at acting. For all he knew they were all terrible at it, and all it took to endanger them all was one tiny mistake. A figure of speech that was specific to Fire Nation culture, a mannerism no one in the Earth Kingdom used, even a seemingly harmless comment about how it was colder here than they were used to, implying that they were from a warmer locale. Any of those things could land them in trouble.

OK, so someone would have to be ridiculously astute and more than a little paranoid to connect the dots on that last one, but the point still stood. As a soldier Xisheng didn't like going into enemy territory without superior or at least equal numbers.

Of course, the lack of numbers on their part was probably what Azula was banking on. Being one of the few prosperous Earth Kingdom cities outside of Ba Sing Se still free of foreign control, the population of the city was rather large. What was four more people in shades of green amidst a sea of people in green? As long as they stuck to the crowds it was unlikely they would be picked out visually by anyone for any particular reason.

Hoping that would indeed be the reality for their upcoming venture, Xisheng was nevertheless drawn out of his musings when the group's usual spokesperson made herself known with her ever energetic voice. "See? Gohan was so polite that he went far enough away to not hear something scandalous even by accident. Maybe he didn't hear about your-"

There was a grunt of minor pain that was probably the result of an elbow to the ribs, but the mental acknowledgment of the girls being ready brought just one more risk to Xisheng's mind.

They wouldn't blend in very well if they were all dressed like nobles. Even wearing green in a sea of green, exquisite tastes would stand out, and Xisheng couldn't imagine for an instant Azula being alright with donning peasant attire. Would narcissism negate their own disguise...?

Turning to hopefully deny his suspicions rather than confirm them, Xisheng was moderately relieved and more than a little awed by the change in garments. In a world where three primary colors mostly ruled the fashion industry, it was always enlightening to see someone in a color they practically never wore.

Ironically, there was still plenty of black to go around. This was fine, since black wasn't an unheard of color in the Earth Kingdom, but Xisheng still thought it would have been better to dispose of the color completely.

That said, Xisheng found it rather amusing that the three girls had essentially color coordinated with one another. Whether it was intentional or because Azula simply liked the idea of her troop being in concert, either way they were still all equipped with tops that had black torsos and dark forest green sleeves and leggings. They each bore the emblem of the Earth Kingdom on their chest, and also sported an almost lime green sash around their waists that served as little more than decorative pieces. In truth, Xisheng would have assumed them to be some sort of actual group of some sort, though whether it was of a militant or social nature could have gone either way.

But despite their similarities in dress, there were small things that still set them apart. Mai's sleeves were longer and looser than her friends, likely for the sake of hiding her weapons. Unlike the fuller forearm gloves Azula and Mai wore, Ty Lee had cloth wristbands not unlike the ones that accompanied her usual outfit. And as for Azula, she obviously couldn't tote around the symbol of Fire Nation royalty that was her usual hairpiece, so it had been temporarily replaced with a simple green ribbon that was almost just enough to make her look like a normal girl. Normal being relative since she still put the average attractive teenager to shame.

In short, Xisheng found himself captivated by the contrast of their appearance to the norm (at this point Ty Lee having her midriff covered almost seemed like an affront to nature), and needless to say this resulted in a more fixed gaze than he had intended. As usual, Azula was quick to point this out. There was rarely any mercy from her barbs.

"I understand that you have less experience with class than the rest of us Lieutenant, but I at least expected you to know that staring is considered rude."

Ironically, Xisheng found that Azula's mildly stinging words tended to have the opposite of the intended effect. Normally he would have been flustered, but being constantly reminded of Azula's determination to make him exactly that, he managed to calm his nerves enough to appear composed, not to mention voice his thoughts more genuinely than a bunch of babbling could provide.

"My apologies. I was just caught off guard, you all look very good in green."

While his comment could have possibly scored some embarrassment out of his audience (he didn't count Ty Lee because she obviously enjoyed the compliment), the reminder that she was indeed wearing green only made Azula scowl. "What you meant to say was that the green looks good on me. Such a droll color could only be made attractive if someone of my caliber was wearing it to begin with."

"O-oh, I see..."

Azula didn't immediately understand why Xisheng seemed put out by that unless he had some strange fondness for green, but an obviously faked cough from Ty Lee got Azula to look in her direction, and the acrobat was subtly gesturing towards her eyes. The implication of her gesture was obvious.

Admittedly Azula felt a little bad about it, but only because she had let a small detail slip from her mind, which therefore resulted in her choice of words. Oh well, it was Xisheng's fault for not having a pair of more gloriously colored eyes. She was hardly to blame for that.

Still, it would have been awkward to just leave it at that, so Azula decided the best course of action was to simply move forward. "Well, I daresay we have wasted enough time dawdling. Your attire is still in the footlocker Lieutenant. We'll depart as soon as you are ready."

Immediately discarding whatever injury he may have felt at Azula's unintended insult, Xisheng made sure to point out one important thing before he left to change so it could be fixed while he was doing so. Efficiency was kind of the job of every soldier, after all.

"Of course Princess. But before I do, I think it would be best if you changed your hair, Mai."

The girl in question merely cocked en eyebrow at him, seemingly not offended so much as curious. "Why?"

"Well, we are trying to blend in, I assume... your hairstyle is very distinct, and definitely a cultural standout."

While he had tried to be as logical in his answer as possible to avoid accidentally insulting her, it seemed like Xisheng didn't even need to bother. Mai merely shrugged. "Good point. I'll change it."

Glad that his input had gone over so easily, Xisheng shrugged as well, moving to the opposite side of the Overlord so he could don his Earth Kingdom disguise.

He was unfortunately not surprised to see that his garb did not match the upper middle-class level of his compatriots, but at least the clothing was not the dull brown and green of the peasantry. If anything, anyone that saw him walking around with the girls would think him a well-off servant or some such.

It could have been worse was what he told himself, and by the time he was dressed in a simple forest green tunic with beige accents he admitted that he made for a passable Earth Kingdom citizen. Now properly adorned, he made his way back to the girls on the opposite side of the Overlord, only to find that his suggestion to Mai had sort of backfired.

Being someone that didn't put effort into anything she didn't care for, Mai had not bothered putting her hair into any particular style. Instead, she had simply allowed her raven locks to cascade freely, their length causing the strands to accent her form all the way down to her lower back. Perfectly straight and streamlined, Xisheng could only compare the sight to a flawless black waterfall, and even that wasn't doing it justice.

He was back to thinking the hair might have been the most attractive thing again.

On the other hand, there was an issue in the fact that the problem had not been averted. The whole reason he had suggested that Mai change her hair was to _avoid_ being noticed. She'd have every guy with good taste flocking to her like this.

That said, he had to say as much or the potential crisis would still remain. "Ah, er... M-Mai, that doesn't really, uh... solve the problem..."

This time Mai really did seem confused. "I'll admit you had a point the first time, but I doubt just having your hair down is patented by any one nation. What's the problem?"

Apparently the other girls were in agreement with Mai, because they looked equally confused on the point Xisheng was trying to make. Still, he wasn't ready to come out completely clean, so he would try for subtlety one last time.

"L-like I said, the point is to avoid attention..."

Unfortunately no one caught his drift, least of all Mai. "And my hair being down draws attention how exactly...?"

Seeing no way to make his point without being straightforward, Xisheng decided to simply say it. "B-because you're... v-very beautiful, is what I'm saying. People are bound to notice you. And I mean, for the sake of the mission concealment is key, so..."

Xisheng petered off when he noted that the reactions he was getting were different from what he had expected. To be fair, that was because he had expected Mai to not react at all, but to his great astonishment she actually appeared... shocked. Maybe out of surprise, though Xisheng supposed it could have been disgust or something. This was a compliment coming from a 'commoner' after all.

He was actually more surprised by Ty Lee and Azula, both of whom appeared displeased by what he had to say. He wasn't dumb enough to not understand why, but he was still confused. Why be jealous of the attentions of someone beneath their stature? Besides, he did have an actual practical reason for making his statement.

Unsure of how to proceed with this turn of events, Xisheng was not saved at all when Mai _almost_ smiled at him. "So are you implying that I'm not attractive when my hair isn't down?"

Getting the distinct feeling that he was being teased by the least likely member of the group to do it, Xisheng found himself at a loss for words. On a technicality, this could be construed as very subtle flirting. He doubted Mai meant it as such, but either way the potential implication flustered him more than anything Azula had tried to catch him off guard with.

"N-n-not at all! I was definitely not saying that! I-It's just that there's a certain allure that would, uh, get the attention of anyone with good taste, is what I was saying!"

Apparently amused by his fumbling, Mai's almost smile evolved into a smirk at his expense. Strangely enough, that sight still challenged his cognitive ability.

Yet the moment was lost the moment Azula got fed up with it. "I think we'll manage to avoid too much trouble from the people that actually matter. Let's head out before I hurl."

Xisheng thought he might have heard some sort of muttered amusement from Mai regarding jealousy, but unlike her he was actually worried that he had offended the others. He still couldn't see it as fair, but that did not stop the awkward silence that reigned over them as they proceeded as one to the gates of Gaoling on foot.

The roughly fifteen minute trek reached its conclusion when they came across what was essentially the only security checkpoint to bother with. Naturally any wartime city worth its salt didn't let just anyone in, but fortunately the huge population of the Earth Kingdom meant that the nation kept relatively poor tabs on people. They relied a lot on paperwork, and forging that was easy enough.

Even so, Ty Lee was entrusted with making the presentation of their actually genuine documents, since she was the least suspicious among them and definitely the only one of them that no one would assume to be Fire Nation for any aesthetic reason. It was actually rather sad that infiltrating Gaoling was as easy as that, but Xisheng imagined that it was a matter of branch competence. Ba Sing Se would no doubt be much harder to infiltrate in such a fashion, at least as far as getting beyond the Lower Ring was concerned.

Either way the four Fire Nation infiltrators made it into the boundaries of Gaoling with no trouble whatsoever, and the moment they were within Ty Lee voiced the most obvious question at hand.

"Now what?"

Azula probably had an answer for this, but since it was an easy question Xisheng decided to spare her the trouble. "The person we are looking for is the Avatar, the last Airbender, is one of the only people that wears orange, and travels around on a flying buffalo. If he's here, _someone_ will know about it."

While these were very good points, Mai sought to point out the questionable validity of them. "I can't imagine any reason for the Avatar to hide that he's here, but the fact remains that he could be."

"That's true, but even then his companions have skin complexions that will stand out here. Just inquiring about unusual visitors could yield results."

Azula cut in before the exchange could continue. "While I highly doubt it will be as simple as asking around, discreetly taking in the latest rumors could nevertheless prove useful. For now, we should split up and see what we can learn individually."

She was almost ready to dismiss them with that, but Xisheng had to counter. "We should at least split into groups of two Princess. Going anywhere alone while in enemy territory is tempting fate."

Unfortunately, his sound advice did not sit very well with the young ruler to be. "Are you implying that we cannot take care of ourselves Lieutenant?"

"I'm implying that the point of a team is to have someone at your side you can rely on. Trust me Princess, I've seen plenty of great warriors slain on the battlefield because they didn't have someone to watch their back. The skill of one person alone can never handle every eventuality."

"I assume this is some Army doctrine you're spouting at me?"

"It's from personal experience Princess. I will follow whatever order you give, but I beg you to let us divide into two teams. It's safer for everyone."

It almost looked like Azula would object further, but in the end she simply rolled her eyes. Still, she wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily. "Very well then. Who do _you_ want to go with Lieutenant?"

While some men were utterly lacking in common sense regarding women, Xisheng was not one of them. He knew damn good and well what a dangerous situation was when it came to women. Choose? There was no right answer when it came to a choice like this. Any choice he made would anger someone. He knew that all too well.

"You know the capabilities of everyone here better than I do Princess. I'll submit to whatever placement you have for me."

Azula mentally cursed at his exceptional answer. She had to admit, Xisheng was very good at this. She would even go so far as to say that he was better at wordplay than he was at fighting. Yet it just made her more determined to win at some point or another.

"You're not mistaken there. Very well, you and Ty Lee go together. There's no point in having the two of us on the same team with similar skill sets. If that's the last tactical input you have for us, then we should all be on our way."

Xisheng felt the urge to bow but didn't for obvious reasons, instead simply nodding and turning on his heel to lead the way into Gaoling with Ty Lee at his side, the latter looking a bit more sour than usual. It was ironic, since Mai still had that smirk on her face that symbolized positive emotion in one way or another. For some reason (she actually knew what it was but refused to acknowledge it) Azula found it irritating.

"What are you smiling about?"

Fully aware of what was bothering her younger friend but ultimately just amused by it, Mai's expression didn't fall. "He gave a clever answer is all. Most boys are dumber than rocks when it comes to this kind of thing. Relatively speaking it's kind of impressive."

"Well considering that Zuko is the only other boy to see anything in you I'd hardly call it a fair comparison."

Azula's petty cruelty returned Mai's expression to the usual, though not because she was offended. She had long since become mostly immune to her friend's venom, mostly because she knew the younger girl tended to spit it at anyone and everyone if she was in a foul mood. This was especially true if the foul mood was brought about by being overshadowed. She'd always detested that, from the very first day Mai had met her. It had never bothered her as much as it did Ty Lee because Mai didn't really care to stand out above anyone else. She'd been raised to be unassuming, so her desperation for attention had been snuffed out relatively early in life.

And finally, she had to admit to herself that she felt too good about the original compliment that was pissing Azula off to let the latter's displeasure get through to her. She'd practically never received praise of that nature, at least not genuinely. Nobles spouted crap like that all the time, but only because it was considered polite to compliment the daughter of the person you actually cared to impress.

And Zuko had of course always been too dense when he was still around. It never occurred to him that certain girls might have wanted a compliment or two from him. But he hadn't even been a teenager at the time, so Mai cut him some slack on that one.

So instead of getting irritated, Mai simply decided to drop the whole matter and urge the objective forward. "Fair enough. Where do you want to look first?"

Azula looked a little put out by the lack of a hostile response, but she at least managed to see that it was childish to try and spur a fight for no real reason. "Word travels rather quickly around places where people are forced to gather frequently. The marketplace sounds like a good place to start eavesdropping."

Not honestly caring where they went since this was all Azula's mission anyway, Mai merely shrugged and allowed her younger compatriot to lead the way, though she couldn't imagine how Azula could have known where she was going all things considered.

She almost thought to ask, but her desire to do so waned when a slightly stiff breeze graced the city streets and forced her cascading hair into a gentle wave.

Did she really look _that_ good like this?

* * *

From the moment Xisheng had entered the perimeter of Gaoling, he was all business. He couldn't afford not to be, because this was arguably the most dangerous situation he had ever been in, and that was saying something considering the battles he had waged on the EK defensive line.

The reason this situation was more dangerous than those was because the numbers were so drastically different. In those all out battles Xisheng had the benefit of hundreds of allied soldiers at his side. At this exact moment, he only had one person to count on. And while he certainly had faith in Ty Lee's abilities, Xisheng knew two versus a thousand was still abysmal odds. If push came to shove for any reason, both he and Ty Lee would probably die. With the numbers of the enemy so far beyond their own, one boulder would eventually paste them against the cobblestone ground or the pale white walls of some fancier building. Maybe their guts would place a macabre painting on one of them? There was far too much white anyway.

His tension led Xisheng to eye everything suspiciously as he struggled to maintain a casual and relaxed gait that wouldn't seem suspicious. The myriad array of green clothed civilians were suspicious. The obviously poor ones would not hesitate to turn in a lead if it got them rewarded by the military. The middle-class citizens adorned in richer shades of their nation would no doubt report something unusual if they thought it was some sort of threat to their relatively cushy lives.

Even the buildings seemed suspicious at the moment. There was too much white stone that reminded him of chalk. Too many wooden railings and paper walls that would spread fire too easily if a stealthy engagement was required. It was ironic that it was all so unsettling, as objectively speaking Gaoling was a very nice city. For the most part it was clean and well built and populated with decent (legally speaking) people.

The thing that gave Xisheng the greatest amount of concern however was the heavy presence of soldiers. Every other street had at least one squad of Earth Kingdom soldiers maintaining an idle watch over their flock. They were lax in their watch though, clearly not thinking that anything really bad was out and about, least of all the Fire Nation. After all, Gaoling had not been attacked by the Fire Nation even once during the last one hundred years of war. There had been no reason to really take over a city with no strategic importance while other more important targets still stood.

But even the high command of the Earth Kingdom army must have realized that wouldn't be true for much longer. With Omashu now occupied and an attack on Ba Sing Se likely postponed until the arrival of Sozin's Comet, there was nothing better for the Fire Nation to do than take over Gaoling. They knew their Firebending enemies would come eventually, but they didn't think there was anything to fear for now.

But just because they weren't manning their posts with great astuteness did not mean there was no danger. In fact, Xisheng knew that people were more likely to notice something out of place when they _weren't_ specifically looking for it. All it took was one guard thinking something looked a little unusual, and then he might feel the need to ask questions. And all it took was one good question to reveal the true nature of their presence here.

And yet, despite all of his very professional concerns about the lives of both himself and his allies, Xisheng still couldn't bury the platonic concern he felt for Ty Lee at the moment, because something was clearly bothering her. She was not a frowner. She did not frown at all unless there was something to actually be upset about.

Xisheng kind of had a guess as to what could possibly be the matter, but he didn't want to extrapolate on a hypothesis, especially since he would appear full of himself if he were mistaken.

But either way he got the feeling Ty Lee's current doldrums was his fault, and technically speaking it would be a good idea to rectify the issue if he could anyway. Being in a bad mood wasn't conducive to efficiency, which was kind of critical in the current situation.

For a moment Xisheng wondered if it was safe to utter a very not Earth Kingdom name at all, but considering the cacophony of a bustling merchant city all around him, he was fairly certain he could lower his voice and not allow anyone to meaningfully overhear anything.

That said he figured he was better off probing for the problem as gently as possible. He didn't peg Ty Lee as a very temperamental girl in general, but Xisheng knew every woman had the potential to be volatile.

"Is something the matter Ty Lee? It's off-putting to not see your usual smile. I miss it already."

There was a very strange conflicting expression that crossed Ty Lee's face upon hearing that. She wanted to be mad. Oh, she wanted to be so mad right now. But he was just so damn good at making her smile. How could she possibly stay mad in the face of such smooth praise?

Yet somehow she managed. Probably had something to do with the fact that the thing drawing her ire at the moment wasn't that far in the past. "Right, something like that couldn't possibly get people's attention, could it? Not like Mai's wonderful hair I'm sure."

While Xisheng had theorized that this was the problem, he was still surprised for many reasons. For one it seemed kind of petty, which didn't really seem like Ty Lee's thing. But two, he couldn't see why she cared. What did it matter what a nobody like him thought of her? What was there to even be jealous of really?

Even so, she clearly was, so that was what he had to fix. That said he didn't know how to do that other than being honest, and in the same sense as being a little blunt. "Are you really upset just because I complimented someone else?"

"Well yeah, it sounds shallow when you say it like that. B-but it's just... you always have so many nice things to say about Mai! You compliment her all the time, but you never say anything about me! Don't I have anything worth appreciating?"

Actually puzzled by Ty Lee's question for what he thought was a very obvious reason, Xisheng ceased his spy's tour of the city to level his gaze directly at his companion. The folded arms added to the sense of incredulity emanating from him. "Really? I never say anything nice about you?"

With the somewhat stern look on his face, Ty Lee was forced to look back over their brief experience together. "W-well, I guess there was the heap of praise you had after the stuff I did in the forest...and the thing you literally just said about my smile I guess... b-but that's beside the point! You haven't given me any... y'know, girl compliments!"

Xisheng for one liked to think that telling a girl she had a beautiful smile counted as a 'girl compliment,' but he supposed that was up to interpretation. Truth be told Ty Lee did consider it a 'girl compliment' and it made her really happy now that she thought about it, but she couldn't really take back her point now.

All in all, Xisheng wasn't sure what his place here was. Just what was he allowed to say, taking status into position? Surely there was some distinct line he could not cross lest he overstep his boundaries. Yet, of everyone in their strange band of Avatar hunters, Xisheng felt the most at ease with Ty Lee by far, at least as far as social convention went. She didn't seem to care too much for it (he just assumed that, but she _had_ run off to join the circus), and so far she had interacted with him like anyone would with a peer of equal status. She certainly didn't seem to look down on him and she didn't act as though he was supposed to look up to her.

Taking all of that into account, along with the fact that the two more stringent members of the party were absent, Xisheng decided there was no real harm done if he pretended there was no distinction between soldier and noble for a brief moment. Besides, she evidently wanted him to say something that was beyond his position, so who was he to deny her?

"So... you're under the assumption that I don't find you attractive?"

Ty Lee had not expected him to be so upfront with the assessment, but she knew how to roll with the metaphorical punches. No point in hiding it. "Well you haven't made it as blatantly obvious as you have with Mai if you do."

Something about bringing a blush to the cheeks of a girl out of his reach thrilled Xisheng more than he cared to admit. To have that kind of effect on someone that was just beyond his rstation was exciting in that taboo kind of way that could easily evolve into something dangerous. Still, to know that he had the ability to make someone so out his league embarrassed only fueled his confidence on the matter further. Was this the kind of skill and charm he had been hiding under a Fire Army helmet all these years? If so, he had to make up for lost time, and he could hardly think of a better situation to exercise in than this one. Just because he could never have the affections of the people he was currently spending time with didn't mean he couldn't tug on those strings from time to time.

"I'm sorry I came across that way Ty Lee. I just didn't think it needed to be said."

The arguably most agile girl on the planet could practically feel a shift in Xisheng's overall atmosphere. Then again, considering her unique perception of the world, she could _literally_ tell that something had just changed for him. His usually yellow and red blend of color took on a very distinct stream of orange just now. Whatever had happened, he was feeling confident about something.

"D-didn't think what needed to be said?"

Apparently pleased that she was too curious to let his words pass by without clarification, Xisheng donned a charming blend of smirk and smile, and Ty Lee could have sworn that she lost feeling in her legs for at least half a second.

"That I find you attractive. It's really more a matter of how I possibly couldn't. You're sweet, kind, and gentle. You have a brilliant smile, warm eyes, and confidence in yourself that's charming. And of course, you're _extremely_ pretty. I consider myself lucky that a girl like you even talks to someone like me."

Ty Lee couldn't stop a massive smile from coming to her face, but honestly she didn't try very hard. Even so, she didn't miss the flare of color in Xisheng's aura when he saw her do it.

 _Oh my God, did he just get really happy just because he made me really happy? Dammit, he's so perfect! Where have you been all my life?!_

To say this was the first time Ty Lee considered Xisheng really good boyfriend material would have been a complete lie. The problem was, she wasn't sure enough of the situation to act on it.

For all the things about Xisheng's personality that she just really liked, it wasn't a matter of him only treating her like that. The sweetness, the smooth talking, the overall interest in others as people, none of those were specific to her. He treated everyone like that. And while Ty Lee certainly had nothing against being so wonderful to everyone, it made it difficult to discern how he really felt about anyone in particular, including her. After all, if this was how he treated everyone (or every girl at least), who knew what it looked like if he actually _liked_ someone?

After all, Ty Lee was usually pretty good at discerning people's romantic preferences, and if she had to hazard a guess in regards to what she had seen so far, she would have assumed that Xisheng really liked Mai. He really _did_ have a lot of nice things to say about her, and he seemed really bummed out by the idea of her disliking him.

Even so, that was just an assumption, and even though Ty Lee usually didn't mind operating on assumptions, this wasn't the case when it came to her friends. She didn't want to act on anything that she wasn't sure of, lest it cause some sort of animosity among them.

Of course, it wasn't just about not acting on her own uncertainties. While Azula would probably deny it, it was obvious to Ty Lee that she was jealous of Xisheng's growing attachments to people other than her.

Well, maybe jealous wasn't the right word. Possessive was probably more like it. Ty Lee didn't like to talk bad about her friends, but Azula had always been the kind of person to stop others from using anything that was hers even if she didn't really care for it. After all, Ty Lee highly doubted that her childhood friend felt anything romantic for anyone, since it was apparently just a sign of pure weakness. But that wasn't the problem she had. She just didn't like sharing.

And of course, Ty Lee being the kind of person that she was, she didn't like upsetting her friends, especially not for her own gain. She had only done that once, and even though she had never really regretted leaving the Fire Nation to join the circus in practice, she had always had trouble reconciling the fact that she had abandoned her friends for her own happiness. Mai probably hadn't minded, but she knew Azula had felt more or less betrayed.

So she really, really didn't want to do anything that would upset the people important to her again. Unfortunately that only added more uncertainty to the situation, and ultimately it meant Ty Lee wasn't going to act on any budding feelings.

That sucked, but she'd go out of her way to clarify how everyone felt about each other at some point, and if it ended up being in her favor she'd be on it in a heartbeat.

It occurred to Ty Lee that she had mustered several moments of silence in response to Xisheng's words just now, but before she could think of anything to say the man in question had already reached some obviously erroneous conclusion about what her silence meant. Suddenly his aura was a very nervous and abashed mix of pink. Auras were weird since the same color could mean many different things depending on just a few differences, but Ty Lee knew the difference in her general happy pink and its bad counterpart.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to overstep my bounds..."

Needless to say Ty Lee was massively confused by this apology. What bounds was he talking about? Did he think he had offended her or something? Why would he ever think that?

"What on earth are you talking-"

Before she could finish questioning the almost humiliated expression on Xisheng's face, someone practically forced his way in-between them. Ty Lee forced down a very sudden (and potent) urge to chi-block him in the neck for daring to interrupt what she thought was a vital conversation with a friend, and instead chose to identify the rude individual.

A quick once over revealed nothing special. He was a young man about their age with brown hair and dull green eyes, wearing a brown tunic that was in decent condition but still symbolized a lack of overall wealth.

And before either she or Xisheng could ask why he was intruding on their personal space, the young man put two flyers in their face. "Nothing is more important than self-defense in these times of war and strife! Master Yu's Earthbending Academy is the place to go if you want to learn to defend yourself for a reasonable price! I'd give you more information, but I'm not getting paid by the hour! Just be a good person and check it out would you? Please?"

With that, the man ran off to hand out more flyers to anyone he could manage. For some reason Ty Lee found this more strange than her companion did.

"That was... unusually desperate for someone just handing out flyers..."

Glancing down at the parchment he had been given, Xisheng shrugged. "He probably gets paid on some arbitrarily perceived notion of advertisement success."

"But he literally didn't even ask if we were Earthbenders!"

"I guess he figures he'll rope in more people if he casts a wider net. Either way, we should check it out."

"What? Why?"

Glad that there were actually directions on the flyer he had been given, Xisheng looked around for some sort of landmark or something he could use to determine where he was right now.

"We're looking for someone that wants to learn Earthbending. It makes sense that he'd check out an Academy. It's unlikely that we'll just conveniently run into him or anything, but if he went there at all someone will probably remember him or his friends."

Ty Lee had to agree with that assessment, but despite the relative urgency that demanded they act on a potential lead as swiftly as possible, the noble turned circus performer didn't want to let the conversation they had been having just sink into the background. Xisheng had clearly misinterpreted something, and Ty Lee didn't like the way it apparently made him feel.

But he was already following the route on the map, walking away from her with the obvious belief that she would follow, and that the conversation they had been having was no longer relevant now that they could continue on their actual mission.

Ty Lee didn't like the fact that he didn't consider his own feelings important enough to talk about, but she would get him to reveal what had just transpired here later. Once all of this espionage business in Gaoling was done she'd find out why he thought he had done something wrong and set him right.

After all, she couldn't let him believe that being _nice_ to her was some sort of crime.

* * *

Master Yu's Earthbending Academy was nothing particularly special. Like the rest of Gaoling, its walls were comprised of mostly white stone with terracotta tile on top, and those walls formed a nice, large square that served as the training grounds for young Earthbenders. The school itself was an obviously nice building, but not one Xisheng bothered investigating, since everyone that attended the Academy appeared to be on those grounds right now, practicing basic forms he had seen used in his battles with the Earth Kingdom many times before.

Nearly everyone present was younger than both Xisheng and Ty Lee, most likely because they were enrolled here by their parents and not because they cared for the martial art themselves.

There was one man beyond their years though, and Xisheng could see the resemblance to the face on the flyer. Subconsciously he noted that it was a _very_ detailed advertisement.

Naturally this Master Yu would be the person they wanted to speak to, since he would know if anyone matching the description of the Avatar or his allies had stopped by, and since Xisheng wasn't the type of person to wait around, he made his way towards the man overseeing the exercises here. He hesitated to call him a teacher, since he hardly seemed to be doing any actual teaching at the moment. It wasn't like there was nothing for him to say, what with the sloppy forms of at least four students. Then again, he was only paid to teach them, not to make them perfect.

Xisheng approached Master Yu with Ty Lee close behind him, and he did his best to suppress a frown as he bore witness to the unseemly facial hair that was his long goatee and mustache. Facial hair was pretty much a sign of prestige or wisdom or something throughout most of the world, but Xisheng had personally never been enthralled with the idea. He didn't plan on growing out a beard or anything until he was old enough for his hair to be white.

He briefly wondered how the girls would feel about that notion. Considering how widespread the consideration of facial hair as 'manly' was, was it even considered attractive to lack it once reaching a certain age?

He was honestly curious, but he was quickly reminded of the farce that had been his earlier flirting attempt with Ty Lee, and that was enough to quell his thoughts. How any of the girls felt about such a thing was irrelevant. He wasn't good enough for them in any form, so why worry about something like that?

That said, he decided to simply focus on the far too stringy hair of the Earthbender, the hideousness of which he did not appreciate until the man in question noticed the approach of newcomers and turned to face them. There was a brief moment of confusion on his face as he took in the appearance of the visitors, but it cleared with only a few moments of thought.

"Welcome to Master Yu's Earthbending Academy. I am Master Yu, renowned and, in my own humble opinion, most talented Earthbender in all of Gaoling. Welcome to my school."

With that less than great introduction given, Yu bowed, but only to Ty Lee specifically. Xisheng had no idea why this was the case, but even after the man rose he only even bothered looking at her. "So, I assume a lady such as yourself is here to get lessons for her servant? A great deal of people have realized the benefits of having an Earthbender at their command. In fact, I even have special courses for-"

It didn't take Xisheng more than a second to see that the disparity in the clothing between Ty Lee and himself was giving an impression of servitude to her, but he supposed it wasn't far off from the truth anyway.

As for Ty Lee, she had stopped really listening to Master Yu when she noted Xisheng's aura twisting with negative color at the mention of being a servant. In fact, the blend of colors were very similar to whatever emotion had struck him in their earlier conversation, and even though Ty Lee wasn't entirely sure what it was, she knew she didn't like it one bit. So she donned the brightest smile she could manage, then wrapped both of her arms around one of Xisheng's and pulled him into her embrace.

"Oh, Gohan's not my servant. He's my boyfriend!"

There was an expression akin to incredulous disbelief on Master Yu's face that made Ty Lee kind of angry (he obviously thought she was playing a joke on him, which implied that he thought the prospect of the Ty Lee and Xisheng being an item was laughable), but she was more focused on the flare of confusion and joy that Xisheng had at both her words and her touch. Part of the reason Ty Lee enjoyed making other people happy so much was because she could actually see the effects of her own handiwork.

Even though Master Yu still seemed to believe himself to be the victim of a prank, he decided that it didn't really matter. The identity of whoever came to him was irrelevant compared to whether or not they could pay for his services.

"My mistake then. I see you have one of my flyers. There's a coupon for a free lesson on it. I suppose if you're both here to learn I'll let you both make use of just one. Oh, and before we even begin, would you like to hear about my promotional program? You get bumped up to the next belt automatically if you pay for a year of lessons in advance."

Ty Lee gently nudged Xisheng in the side, prompting him to be the one to answer. She honestly wasn't all that good at lying unless it came to a very particular set of things, and this was not one of them. She didn't know how to explain why two people that weren't Earthbenders were at an Earthbending Academy without sounding suspicious.

Still reeling a bit from the declaration of being Ty Lee's boyfriend even if he knew it had been for the sake of false appearances, not to mention the feel of her body against his without any armor to get in the way, Xisheng miraculously still managed to focus on the task at hand. He was technically on a mission here.

"Actually Master Yu, we're not here looking for lessons. My little brother was supposed to stop by to sign up for Earthbending lessons today, but he wasn't looking forward to it. I just wanted to check in and see if he actually showed up. Mom will have both our hides if he spent the day fooling around."

Of all of the explanations for investigation that Xisheng could have given, this one did bear the least amount of suspicion to it, but it was entirely possible that it wouldn't work. If the Avatar had actually come into this city as, well, _the Avatar_ , then it was very unlikely that this line of questioning would bear fruit. However, there had been no evidence of a the return of a prodigal spiritual figure in this city, so Xisheng had every reason to believe that the Avatar was keeping a low profile for now at least.

As for Yu, he didn't seem to suspect anything too out of the ordinary. Besides, Xisheng had wisely picked a lie that played to his greatest weakness, that being material gain. Allegedly there was supposed to be someone signing up for lessons who maybe had not, meaning that there was money on the line.

"I did have someone come in earlier today looking for prospective lessons, but he wasn't very good at it... called it quits after taking just one boulder to the chest! I even offered him the same promotional as you two, and-!"

With little interest in hearing about any of that, Xisheng cut the man off as unobtrusively as possible.

"Was he short and gangly? Around thirteen looking?"

Master Yu donned a knowing smirk. "He might have been."

Xisheng immediately got the implication that Yu wanted some sort of recompense for his information. As expected, the man was greedy beyond hope. Unfortunately Xisheng didn't actually have any substantial amount of money on him, and he doubted Ty Lee was just carrying around a bunch either. Thankfully the acrobat in question was good enough at playing off of the story that had already been presented.

"C'mon now mister, you're getting good business here. His mom is gonna force him to attend no matter what, but we have to know if it was his little brother in the first place so we can know if we have to keep looking or not."

While lamenting the loss of any type of monetary gain, Yu figured that the payoff for cooperation was bigger anyway. Not to mention that he had to wrap up this conversation quickly regardless, since he needed to head over to the Beifong estate in about an hour for his special teaching position there.

"Well, I suppose any parent that can afford such ridiculous tattoos for a child so young will probably be able to afford the curriculum as well. Yes, I saw your brother earlier today, just an hour or two ago in fact. I've no clue where he went after the fact though."

While the math was already starting to add up in every way that mattered, Xisheng wanted to confirm without a shadow of a doubt that they were all talking about the same person.

"Yeah, those blue tattoos were always ridiculous..."

Master Yu did not seem confused by this statement. In fact he agreed with it, and that was confirmation enough of the truth. "Quite. Now, if you don't mind, I still have a class to finish teaching. Good day."

With that, the somewhat unsavory teacher bowed to them before turning on his heel to return to his class. Now that they were away from any potential eavesdroppers, Ty Lee gave him a beaming smile. "Great work Gohan! Azula would be proud."

This was only half a joke really, as both she and Xisheng knew that Azula would probably compliment him for his decent degree of manipulation and subterfuge, simple as it was. She did enjoy fighting, but she also tended to prefer the quiet approach when it could be used.

"Well she can compliment me after we tell her the news. She'll probably want to know that who we're looking for is actually here as soon as possible."

"Yeah, but she didn't specify where to actually meet her and Mai again if we found something out..."

"The most likely place to rendezvous is near the gate we came through."

Xisheng thought this was obvious, but apparently Ty Lee wanted an explanation on this. "What makes you think that? She didn't say anything like that."

"It's typical military practice. If no specific rendezvous was mentioned than the best place to try and regroup is the location that you separated at."

Mention of the military served as a reminder for Ty Lee that her current companion was in fact a soldier. That sounded dumb when she thought it considering that he was usually wearing a uniform, but he didn't seem like someone who had fought on the field of a life or death battle when she talked to him. She'd overheard that part of his conversation with Azula in which he had claimed to be willing to kill anyone.

She'd buried the ill feelings that news had brought to her since learning of it. She'd always found killing to be deplorable and senseless and an indicator of cruelty. To hear that Xisheng was willing to kill anyone and concluding through common sense that he had probably killed people before had severely jumbled Ty Lee's thoughts on him for a short while.

That he had taken such great enjoyment in her performance in the forest the next day had admittedly alleviated her concerns somewhat, but either way it was still a matter of her burying her real misgivings on the matter. With her mind where it was, they were brought to the surface now, but she wasn't sure if it was fair of her to make assumptions. She hadn't heard the entire conversation he had with Azula. It was possible that she was misunderstanding something out of context. And even if she wasn't, surely there was someway to reconcile Xisheng's willingness to kill with his personality. He was a good person, Ty Lee at least knew that much.

Despite telling herself that, she still didn't reach a definite conclusion before the path they were taking back to the gates of Gaoling allowed them to hear a plaintive cry for help from down an alley.

She and Xisheng exchanged looks of confusion before glancing down the alley where the pathetic cry had emanated from. It was kind of weird to be hearing such a thing, considering that they were literally less than a hundred feet from Master Yu's Academy. Had no one heard anything until they had just now?

Either way such a strange occurrence demanded investigation due to curiosity if nothing else. Thankfully the chalky alley didn't take very long to reveal the source of the disturbance, as Xisheng and Ty Lee came across the extremely peculiar sight of two young boys frozen to the sides of the walls, with their heads pressed together.

Ty Lee looked mortified by the act of abuse, but Xisheng merely scoffed. "Gee, I wonder who could be responsible for this?"

The frozen boys, unable to see their rescuers with their heads forcibly pointed at the ground, were ecstatic that someone had finally found them. "H-hey! Whoever's there, y-y-you're gonna get us out of here right?!"

Ty Lee was quick to offer an affirmative, naturally. She wasn't the type to hold back assistance for those that needed it. "Of course! We'll have you out in no time!"

She immediately looked over to Xisheng, who was quick to give her a look that communicated why this wasn't going to work. Obviously there could be no Firebending. "I-I mean, we'll tell the guards you're here. They can get you out!"

Xisheng stopped her movements before she could actually fetch said guards. "Before we help you guys, I have to ask how you got here. Who did this to you?"

While the boys were certainly unhappy with having to wait, they figured they would be rescued faster if they just answered any questions instead of arguing or expressing their distaste. "S-some dark skinned witch in blue! C'mon man, we've been up here for half an hour!"

"Half on hour? Geez, she could have killed you guys like this. Why'd she do it?"

At this, both boys fell silent, but only for a moment as they decided that getting warmth back in their bodies was more important than keeping a secret about their attendance at an underground and technically illegal fighting tournament. "S-she wanted to know about Earth Rumble Six! It's an illegal Earthbending tournament! I don't know why she wanted to know, she didn't say! S-she just froze us up here and threatened to freeze our heads too if we didn't tell her where it was! Come on man, we're freezing, just get us down from here!"

"Calm down, we're going to get you down. Just as soon as you tell us where this Earthbending tournament is."

"W-what?! Seriously-"

"If you want the girl who assaulted you to face justice, the guards are going to need to know where they went. You tell us, and we tell them at the same time we tell them to come get you down from here. After all, you said this tournament was illegal right? You want to be the ones to tell the guards you knew about it?"

Had the boys in question been in their right minds at the moment, they probably would have asked questions that debunked everything Xisheng was getting at. After all, there were many ways in which it didn't make sense. However, they had been frozen parallel to the ground for nearly an hour and a half now, and they couldn't feel an inch of their bodies. What was logical wasn't exactly what they cared about at the moment, and that was why Xisheng and Ty Lee were leaving said alley with the information they required shortly after the question was asked, looking for any guards they could inform of the crime that had taken place so those poor sods could be rescued before they froze to death.

Ty Lee for one had a very sour look on her face. "You know, I think that Waterbender girl is meaner than Azula is."

Xisheng wished his companion would be more careful about uttering the name of the Fire Nation's Crown Princess while in an Earth Kingdom city, but she was keeping her voice low enough that no one would hear.

"You say that like our mutual friend is unspeakably cruel or something."

The acrobat at his side leveled one of the most serious expressions Xisheng had ever seen at him. "You haven't known her that long Xisheng. I'm not saying she's some monster or anything, but she can be seriously vicious, even to her friends. But it's usually just words. She finds more enjoyment in breaking people's spirits than their bodies."

"And you think that's not as bad as this Waterbender?"

"Well hurting people with words is just a matter of being smart and clever, and it only hurts as much as the victim lets it. But you can't do anything to protect yourself from someone physically stronger than you are when they use their strength to bully you. That Waterbender assaulted those boys just because they wouldn't do what she wanted."

Fully agreeing with the sentiment, Xisheng smirked to himself. "Well be sure to tell her what a hypocrite she is the next time she spouts some nonsense about being one of the good guys. Might want to subdue her first though, since she seems prone to violence."

"Tell me about it. You know she almost killed me with that icicle to the face, and I bet she would have acted like it was righteous or something..."

* * *

Thankfully Xisheng had had been right about reuniting with their lost allies at the gates of Gaoling. Surprisingly, he and Ty Lee hadn't even needed to wait very long for Azula and Mai to show up. Xisheng had expected a much longer wait since they were lucky and gained critical information very quickly, but apparently Azula had found a reason to keep her own investigation short as well.

It was a minor bummer, because Xisheng had actually been enjoying the conversation he had started with Ty Lee regarding their enemies. He had just been about to unleash a philosophical lecture on the duality of morality when he had been interrupted. He imagined Ty Lee would have been thankful for Azula's intervention though. When it came to the human condition Xisheng always had a mouthful to say. Maybe he could become a philosopher one day, when this war was finally over and people were free to explore the truth of thought outside of what the Spirit World forced upon them?

Either way, Azula had been greatly pleased to learn of Xisheng and Ty Lee's acquired intelligence, as she and Mai had supposedly learned nothing of import during their own investigations. For some reason the Avatar wasn't making his presence hugely known. According to Master Yu he wasn't really hiding either, but even so it was strange that he had not made his presence common knowledge for a beleaguered Earth Kingdom city.

All in all, Xisheng had quickly relayed what he had learned and Azula had them on the move immediately, heading for the location of this allegedly brutal 'Earth Rumble Six.'

Xisheng had been initially concerned that the rather 'middle class' look of his cohorts would be suspicious to the people running the underground fighting ring, but when they reached the unassuming side of a mountain on the outskirts of Gaoling, the somewhat filthy person standing watch at the cave entrance to the arena didn't even question it. After all, they had money. And he didn't care what anyone looked like if they paid the fee to enter, because that was the source of his paycheck.

So within an hour of meeting up at the gates, and only three hours of being in Gaoling overall, Azula's infiltration team was already hot on the Avatar's heels. Apparently coming to Gaoling had been a good idea.

Still, while walking through the earthen halls that would lead to the arena for this underground fighting ring, Xisheng was left fretting over the potential for disaster. If the Avatar was here in this ring right now, there was a chance that he or his friends could identify them. They had only had one encounter, but the fact that the girls he traveled with were all very striking and memorable remained.

It could come down to a lot of things. He didn't know how large the ring itself was. If it were small, they could find themselves in very close proximity to the enemy, and in that case they would likely be recognized with little trouble if any of the kids were paying attention. Their odds would be better if the arena were large, since it was unlikely that they would be recognized from a distance after their one encounter and while dressed differently from that encounter.

The possibility of danger always made Xisheng on edge, but it was especially true now that there were other people he absolutely had to keep safe. Not to mention that, if they were discovered and a fight broke out, it was very likely that any Earthbenders present would join the Avatar and attack. He doubted Fire Nation sentiment was very positive here in Gaoling, even if the city itself was one of the only Earth Kingdom settlements to be spared an attack so far.

Xisheng would of course be fine as far as remaining incognito. He had been masked during the scuffle with the Avatar, so no one would recognize him. Honestly Azula stuck out a bit, but mostly for reasons beyond her control. Her features were sharp and elegant and unmistakable, but hopefully the lack of identifying garb and accessories would keep their prey from actually focusing on her face too much.

As for Mai, while she was subjectively gorgeous, objectively she was currently unassuming. She would have little problem blending into a large crowd of people, as there was little to draw singular attention to her. Ironically she was the most noticeable when she was by herself, but that implied that there was no one around to notice her in the first place. A real shame, since Xisheng got the feeling her beauty was not nearly as appreciated as it should have been.

That only left Ty Lee. And while Xisheng had earlier concluded that she had the best chance of blending in with the Earth Kingdom, he realized that right this second she was the most recognizable of their group to the Avatar.

"Ty Lee, let your hair down."

The acrobat had to glance over her shoulder to make eye contact since Xisheng had taken to the rear of the group as soon as they entered extremely hostile territory, but the angle of the view didn't mitigate the obvious confusion and strange amount of hope on her face. "Really? You think I should?"

Xisheng got the feeling that Ty Lee would be put out if she learned his suggestion was for the practical reason of eliminating a defining aesthetic characteristic. He wasn't an idiot of course, so he knew why this was the case. Or at least he thought he knew. Obviously she wanted the same kind of praise he had afforded Mai earlier that day for the same scenario. But that didn't add up with just a few hours ago where his compliments had only been met with silence. At this point he couldn't help but wonder if he had gotten turned around somewhere in his perception of things.

Was he misinterpreting something important? All of these conflicting signals implied that he was. Still, now wasn't the time to ask. They were about to step into an extremely volatile situation that could get them all killed. Even so, on the very real possibility that Xisheng had completely misread the situation thus far, he figured it couldn't hurt to leave his more practical motives in the dark.

"I do. I find that today has been a good day to break from the norm, all things considered."

Xisheng felt bad seeing Ty Lee take his words at face value, but it wasn't like he was lying or anything. Everyone was dressed differently, pretending to be people they weren't. It was a pretty good premise to do something a little differently today.

That said his agile comrade wasted very little time in undoing her usual braid, and considering the complexity of the knots she was remarkably swift about it. Good thing the walk to the Earth Rumble arena was decently long.

When the process was done, Ty Lee gave her now loose locks a flip and eyed the only man in the group somewhat bashfully. Unbeknownst to him she was attempting to recall the phrasing he had used earlier that day.

"S-so, um... am I...alluring?"

Naturally Xisheng inwardly questioned if it was his place to utter anything along the lines of outright appreciation for the physical to someone beyond his stature in life. But he got the feeling that trying to hold back any praise in this instance was futile.

Unlike Mai, whose hair was almost perfectly streamlined, Ty Lee's was unusually wavy any bouncy out of its braid, which Xisheng hadn't actually been expecting. Even though it may have been just as long as Mai's, it fell a little higher on her back due to this, and he couldn't help but think that the bounce of her locks from every step accented her energy and bubbly atmosphere almost perfectly.

She was undoubtedly prettier than nearly every girl walking the face of the Earth at the moment, but Xisheng couldn't find it in him to utter words that brazen, so he settled for the best his faltering cognition could muster.

"Y-yes..."

Xisheng immediately berated himself for the lack of complexity in his response, and he was afraid that he had only succeeded in insulting someone again. However, Ty Lee seemed downright ecstatic to hear him say something so simple. Maybe she knew that he had simply been too outright dumbfounded to say anything else.

The moment was lost when Azula cut in. She tended to do that a lot.

"If you two teenagers are done flirting, we do have a mildly dangerous job you should be focusing on."

Both Xisheng and Ty Lee refrained from pointing out that Azula was in fact the youngest teenager there, mostly because they had finally reached the end of the hall that opened up into the arena that was their destination.

There was no door. Just a big, empty hole that led into a massive space in the belly of a mountain. Unconventional and definitely far from ornate, but that said it also fit the Earthbender mentality of simplicity in execution. If it worked they usually didn't bother making it nice.

A perfunctory glance into the area revealed nothing immediately obvious. The action hadn't started yet, and people were either milling around conversing with one another or simply finding the seat they wanted the most. More importantly, Xisheng was relieved to see that almost everything here was in their favor. The arena, which consisted of little more than stone stands and a large fighting ring in the middle, was huge. The scope of the place meant they were less likely to be noticed.

Furthermore, the crowd here was large enough to easily hide in. Roughly half the stands in total were taken already, with, oddly enough, the top half of the seating being taken and the bottom half left almost completely empty. Considering that the lowest seats were level with the ring, Xisheng easily deduced why this was the case. There would be no spectacle to enjoy if you were flattened by an errant boulder.

That said he found it pitiable for fighters to have such a lack of control. With the power benders wielded, it was their responsibility and duty to keep a tight leash on their abilities and avoid causing unintentional damage. In an Agni Kai, somehow managing to wound or even just endanger the audience would be just as dishonorable as losing the duel, if not more so.

Of course, it could have just been because he was a soldier. The Fire Nation military trained all of its soldiers to be disciplined and controlled, as their element posed the greatest threat of collateral damage to both ally and environment. Being unable to control the wild force of flame on the field of battle was not acceptable.

Either way, Xisheng imagined they would be better off in the higher stands. He also imagined they would be better off taking caution even if the odds here were in their favor.

"We should enter one at a time. Larger groups are more likely to draw curiosity."

Azula gave him a look that was a weird mix of irritation and admiration. Xisheng didn't even know those things could blend. "I'm not sure if your ability to give advice on the most minor of details irritates me or impresses me."

"Entire battles can hinge on the understanding of very small details, Pr-,er, Milady."

"Fair enough. And here I thought I went unusually far out of my way to consider the small things. Very well, I'll go first. Don't dawdle for too long."

The young ruler to be made her exit with that, allowing her to take the first gander at the arena as a whole. Thankfully no flames started flying or anything, so she hadn't come under immediate attack, and soon enough her comrades started filing in at sporadic intervals that weren't inherently suspicious.

Azula had been smart enough to choose a spot that was blocked by other audience members in both the front and the back, providing them with plenty of shielding from both detection and actual physical attack. How she had managed to appropriate enough seating for four people was a mystery, but probably had something to do with her ability to intimidate.

Ultimately Xisheng was faced with a new uncomfortable situation as he entered this scenario. Naturally, being a guard by nature, he entered the arena last, since holding the rear was his duty. Because this was the case, he had expected to be on the end of the line of people his little group would form on the stands, and with quite a considerable distance between them at that. Yet Ty Lee had chosen to intentionally take the end for herself so he would only be able to sit between her and Mai. He could tell it was intentional because of the cheeky smile if nothing else.

Now this was not a problem in and of itself, but despite Azula's ability to scare people out of their seats, it was still cramped up here and they weren't going to get a lot of elbow room regardless. By extension, he possessed less than an inch of space between him and his lovely feminine compatriots (he essentially had no space on Ty Lee's side, but he wasn't complaining about her intentional proximity), and that posed a problem because he was _supposed_ to be paying attention to their surroundings, which was difficult in this situation.

Thankfully Mai was awful at perpetuating sexual tension, at least unintentionally. Based on his experience with her so far, Xisheng was almost positive she could make anyone hot under the collar if she wanted to, but when she didn't she was so apathetic to everything that it was difficult to even feel awkward around her. It was weird that she could be so neutral as to make other people feel comfortable (she couldn't judge you if she didn't feel anything about you in the first place), but also kind of nice.

That said her singular focus on the task at hand only mildly served to calm Xisheng's nerves in this situation. After all, he couldn't help but admire the way even complete seriousness only accented the acuity of her beauty. Never had he thought before meeting her that a frown could actually be attractive.

Thankfully he managed to avoid gawking blatantly like an idiot due to the beginning of the night's entertainment. A shower of boulders blasted forth from the center of the ring, some of them smashing into the lower stands, reinforcing why it was a bad idea to sit there. The man that had created the reckless display introduced himself as the announcer for the tournament, Xin Fu, and with a fair amount of bravado that accompanied all events of this nature, he wasted no time in getting things underway. After all, the longer this business dragged out, the higher the chance of the authorities ruining it.

Xisheng recognized with a great deal of dismay what kind of spectacle this ordeal was going to be when the first two fighters made their entrance, with the announcer labeling them as 'The Boulder' and 'The Hippo.' Silly gimmick names that meant this tournament was just as much about mindless entertainment as it was was about skill. Possibly even moreso. Mai summed up the feeling remarkably well.

"This is going to hurt me on a soulful level to watch."

Naturally Ty Lee was more optimistic about it, but she was a performer, so this was kind of up her alley in that regard. Admittedly Xisheng would have much rather seen a display of her talents over this Earthbending tripe. In a completely non-carnal sense, of course. It was just that Xisheng had already seen a lot of Earthbending in his lifetime, and he imagined that many of the moves used in this tournament would be over-the-top, dramatized nonsense that would never work or just be an awful idea on the battlefield.

The first show of drama was actually the very first move, in which The Boulder launched a similarly named projectile right at his overweight foe, only for the latter to simply tank the hit and crush one of the rocks within his disgusting maw. Tactically speaking there was no reason to ever take a direct hit in real combat if you could avoid it, so it was for shock factor only. Though Xisheng didn't consider it very shocking. An Earthbender negated an earth-based attack; what was so amazing about that?

The retaliation strike was equally ridiculous, with The Hippo leaping up and down to heave the entire ring and throw the Boulder off-balance. Admittedly it was a pretty appreciative display of raw power, but such a tactic would be less than useful in a real fight and even throw off your own allies if you had any.

In the end The Boulder saved himself from falling off of the battleground with a slab of stone, and he made short work of his opponent after that by picking him up in a cradle of earth and heaving him out of the ring altogether. The bravado after his victory put exasperated scowls on the faces of everyone in Azula's group save Ty Lee. Just one fight in and they were all sick of this already.

The brief pause between matches gave Xisheng some time to scan the audience around him, but he didn't spot their prey anywhere. It was possible that they could be on the opposite side of the arena, but from this distance he couldn't pick out anything truly distinguishable about anyone over there.

His subtle analysis of the people around him was cut short when the entire crowd started jeering at The Boulder's next opponent, and returning his gaze to the ring, Xisheng saw why this was the case. Probably had something to do with the moron waving around a Fire Nation flag and speaking about the glory of the Fire Lord and all that.

Azule scoffed at the presentation. "This man is going to get killed. Lynched maybe. What a moron..."

At first Xisheng agreed, but after a moment of thought, he saw through the ruse. Azula was right in saying that this man would have been long dead by now if he were a true and open supporter of the Fire Nation in Gaoling. After a hundred years of a losing war, the Earth Kingdom nursed an unhealthy degree of outright hatred and bitterness for anything Fire Nation related. This guy would have been hung, mauled, drawn and quartered, or something by an angry mob of people by now.

But this was entertainment. Xisheng had no doubt that this 'Fire Nation Man' (was that the best they could come up with?) was simply an Earthbender getting paid to pretend to support the Fire Nation so the crowd would have someone to collectively hate, and so they would have someone to cheer for as one in the form of the 'patriotic Earthbender' facing him. A good marketing tactic really. Everyone liked to see their boogeymen get destroyed.

That was why it was no surprise when The Boulder not only defeated Fire Nation Man in mere seconds, but with a ridiculous level of dramatic flair, prompting everyone to cheer as the 'loser's' body was flung into one of the boulders that had crashed into the stands earlier, courtesy of Xin Fu.

The uproar of applause and cheering was deafening, and Xisheng found it kind of sad that such an obvious stunt was enough to boost the spirits of these people. What had just happened was essentially war propaganda, and very obvious war propaganda at that. He hoped no one here was stupid enough to really believe it would be that easy when the Fire Nation really descended on this city for the first time.

But while he thought of this, apparently Mai had been doing something more useful, as she informed all of her allies of something important under the cover of the overly loud cheering around her. "Our 'friend' is here. Other side of the ring, where that moron just landed."

Xisheng directed his gaze where Mai had specified, but for him he couldn't outright identify the trio of people sitting foolishly in the front row seats on the opposite side of the arena (seriously, assuming none of them knew Earthbending, they were literally risking their lives sitting there). Still, now that Mai had pointed them out, he thought he could make out the blues of the Avatar's Water Tribe friends against the slate gray of the stone behind them.

"You have remarkably good vision Mai."

"Thanks."

Considering that he had expected her to shrug off the compliment immediately, Xisheng considered it a victory that she had responded at all, even though she wasted no time in questioning Azula.

"So? Now what?"

The princess of the Fire Nation seemed remarkably pleased, yet she also didn't look too eager to do anything at all.

"Now? We do nothing. We've acquired the most important thing of all; undeniable evidence of his presence. We can hardly start anything here in the open anyway. Now we observe and wait."

The mention of more waiting, and by extension more boredom, only gave rise to a sigh out of the eagle-eyed member of the team that has spotted the Avatar in the first place. "Great. My absolute favorite."

Since Azula had a very good point in saying that they couldn't do anything now, the quartet of quintessential spies was left with nothing to do but continue watching the Earth Rumble VI 'tournament.' Thankfully it did evolve from mindless entertainment to actual fighting at some point, as it became obvious that The Boulder's opponents were actually attempting to defeat him. For the record, Xisheng recognized that The Boulder was actually a very good Earthbender. He had more power than the average bender, and many of his attacks were actually kind of creative. He was above the average mark for an Earthbender at any rate, and he made it all the way to the tournament finals in relatively short order. In little time at all he was facing off against the champion, who turned out to be... a little girl. A _very_ little girl, no older than twelve at the most.

The diminutive figure, clad in unusually high quality greens and beige, would have earned looks of confusion from normal people, but everyone in Azula's retinue simply accepted the situation. After all, Azula had been far more talented and skilled than the average Firebender at that age. Who was to say that an Earthbender couldn't be the same?

Either way, this girl, dubbed 'The Blind Bandit' (by far the best name of all these hooligans so far), exchanged some practically obligatory bravado with The Boulder before their fight started. Unfortunately for her opponent, when it did start it didn't last very long. The Boulder took just one step before the girl he was facing countered with a swift shift of the earth under his foot that forced him into a painful split.

Xisheng was the only member of the team to cringe at the phantom pains the sight provided him. Mai didn't seem to care, Azula probably thought it was amusing, and Ty Lee probably just thought such a lack of flexibility was sad. That said, Xisheng decided then and there that he would work on his flexibility just in case this kind of scenario ever happened to him. After all, he figured Ty Lee had to know some really good stretching techniques to be as limber as she was. There was no reason not to ask her to share.

Despite the overwhelming wave of sympathy for The Boulder, he was subsequently launched from the ring with three pillars of stone from the Blind Bandit. She received a decent modicum of cheering, but apparently more than a few people had hoped the reigning champion would actually be defeated.

As Xin Fu started talking incentives for other people to challenge the talented young girl, Xisheng questioned the nature of her victory. In the end, he wouldn't have necessarily called it a matter of skill so much as very quick reaction time. The Boulder had presented an obvious opening, and the girl had taken advantage of it swiftly. Besides, he always found it difficult to truly judge skill in battle during contests like this. All she had to do was launch her opponent from the ring. In a real fight, who was to say that he wouldn't have gotten back up, thought of a new strategy, and actually beaten her? Then again, who was to say that the girl's first blow wouldn't have just killed him in a real fight?

Xisheng put his thoughts to rest when he saw that someone had taken Xin Fu up on his offer to face the Blind Bandit, and as fortune would have it, it was the Avatar himself. He recalled a certain notion of the Avatar not being very subtle at some point in the past, but this was ridiculous. Knowing that he was arguably the most wanted man in the world, did he really think it was a good idea to put himself out into the open like this? Even in an Earth Kingdom city, he still had to worry about mercenaries, bounty hunters, and anyone that thought (rightfully so) that they could score a cushy life in the Fire Nation for turning him over to them.

Perhaps he was just not experienced enough yet to realize the danger that was stalking him every waking moment of his life.

It was obvious (to his hunters at least) that the Avatar was not challenging the Earth Rumble champion for the prize money involved in winning. Considering that he was likely still looking for an Earthbending teacher, it seemed that he wanted it to be this girl.

Unfortunately it was impossible to confirm this, as the Avatar didn't shout his intention as loudly as all of the fighters before now had. Whatever he said though, it didn't allow him to hold a conversation with the Blind Bandit, who attacked him outright. He was allegedly challenging her title after all.

Honestly, Xisheng was surprised that people didn't recognize the Avatar as an Airbender as soon as he started evading attacks. True, he wasn't wearing his usual outlandish attire, but the way he floated about the field of battle was unnatural, and definitely beyond the ability of any other bender. The way his body suddenly decelerated when gravity demanded otherwise was testament enough to his manipulation of the nearly extinct element.

But apparently no one caught this, and the fight carried on in a similar fashion for a whole thirty seconds, ending when the Avatar chose to counter an incoming boulder rather than avoid it. It was debatable whether or not he had intended to do it, but either way the blast of air he used to defend himself launched the Blind Bandit out of the ring, leading her to be officially defeated.

Amid the cries of astonishment and cheering in the crowd, Azula's group stayed focused and watched the ensuing actions of their prey. The Avatar wasted no time in pursuing the girl he had just bested, no doubt attempting to get her to listen to his pleas, and his obvious determination to get her attention was enough for Azula to decide on a risky but advantageous plan.

As she dwelt on the possibilities of knowing the objective of her own prey, Azula almost blew their cover by donning a smirk so calculating and malicious that anyone looking would have known she was plotting against them. Thankfully everyone was too busy cheering for the mysterious stranger that had bested the Blind Bandit, and the group of Fire Nation infiltrators suffered no difficulties as they made their inconspicuous exit from the arena of Earth Rumble VI.

How strange it was, to leave a place with a plan for another's demise that you had not possessed before then.

* * *

 **So, I know this is a weird question to ask on a fic about AtLA, but the Internet is so overwhelmingly positive about the show that I can't help but be curious. If you have an actual, legitimate gripe with the show somewhere, just something that you actually didn't like, I would like to hear what it is. I don't mean silly gimmick answers like 'it was too short' or 'The Great Divide,' I mean actual issues with the show. Concepts, characters, lessons, stuff like that.**

 **Assuming you've read this far, you probably already know what I consider to be the show's main weakness; an extremely narrow and at time hypocritical moral narrative. It's not like that ruins all the other great things about AtLA for me, but it is the main reason I started writing this story in the first place. So, how about you?  
**


	7. Gaoling's 41st

**So while watching the Blind Bandit, I realized a major plot oversight in the show. Toph has supposedly been kept secret from pretty much everyone prior to fleeing her home. But when Xin Fu assumes he's been conned out of his money, he seemingly knows exactly who she is, and exactly where to find her. On top of that he kidnaps her from the Beifongs, one of the richest EK families, and he only asks for five hundred gold in ransom money.**

 **Is Xin Fu psychic? Or does The Boulder have a network of spies we should know about? Who knows?**

* * *

The first night Azula's retinue spent in Gaoling, Xisheng spent the first half of it all by his lonesome. That was because he was assigned to a particular task while the girls found a suitable place for them to stay, which was making sure that the Overlord was still secure and well-hidden. After all, it wouldn't do to have the local garrison wary of Fire Nation presence, even if the discovery of the Overlord certainly wouldn't have been very specific evidence of who was around.

Even so, Xisheng understood the Princess' precaution, and he had also expected it to be his job to do this. Thankfully it was relatively easy to leave Gaoling, and when Xisheng was done out here, it wouldn't be that much of a problem to get back in either. While there were many issues with the bureaucracy of the Earth Kingdom, they certainly loved their procedures, and they did them pretty well. The faux passport he had used to get into the city had been stamped by the gate guards, proving that he had already been legally accepted into the city and that he was simply a returning individual.

Of course, while this was effective in some ways, it wasn't like it was without its flaws, and it wasn't really all that difficult to bypass, as Azula and her crew had proven. But personally Xisheng thought it was something that could be incorporated into the Fire Nation in some form. His home country didn't keep especially good tabs on the identity of every citizen. Most people that could be recognized were done so through reputation or the fame of their family name.

This of course meant that there was no locking people out of any one city. Literally anyone could step into the capital without obstruction. It was just that they would face the full extent of the law if they stepped out of line, and the Fire Nation was quite unforgiving when it came to crime.

But the somewhat impressive security of the Earth Kingdom could definitely find some use in the Fire Nation, so long as it didn't devolve into the same system of elitist segregation that the Earth Kingdom used now. Maybe Gaoling wasn't quite as bad as Ba Sing Se, but the fact remained that passports into the wealthy city weren't cheap, creating a natural barrier for anyone that wasn't at least middle class. The poor members of the city had either cheated their way into its walls or simply lost all their wealth while within them.

To say the Fire Nation didn't have some of the same problems would have been a lie of course. While the Earth Kingdom gave more opportunity to those that had more wealth, the Fire Nation had always favored those born of respected families. So people that were just born into a renowned name tended to have more opportunity available to them than the common citizen.

But the difference was the barrier to success. Xisheng imagined that it was not impossible for someone to make a name for themselves in the Earth Kingdom's economy. Surely there had been some people that were cunning or determined enough to fight their way to the top and find success. But there was an active resistance to such things happening in the EK.

Naturally the already rich members of EK society wanted to keep their status, and make more money by monopolizing whatever it was they made all of their money from. So they often tried to prevent others from rising to success in their particular market.

While you may have had to work harder to gain prestige in the Fire Nation if you were born a nobody, at least the only obstacle to your advancement was your own limitations. The Fire Nation was a meritocracy at its core. Regardless of what family you were born into, how much money you started with, or if you were a bender or not, you could acquire respect and prestige as long as you earned it.

Of course, that didn't mean everything was perfect and fair. Benders may not have had a concrete advantage over their counterparts, but they were still generally held in higher regard. Non-benders naturally had more difficulty gaining glory on the field of battle, and of course there was no stopping people from looking down on you if you were poor or weak.

But that was just the human condition. No government could ever change the way people treated one another. All it could do was try to provide an equal opportunity for everyone to succeed, without a corrupt system that made the strong even stronger and left the weak in the dust.

As Xisheng made his way across the small field of plains that separated Gaoling's walls from the forest where the Overlord was hidden (in almost total darkness since he dared not bend in enemy territory), he couldn't help but find it amusing that the Fire Nation, while seemingly obsessed with strength, cared more for the weak than their global counterparts.

Not that it was particularly a matter of morals. Xisheng didn't know the origin of the Fire Nation's social doctrine, but he doubted that it was really a matter of 'doing the right thing.'

Being a small island nation for almost all of its existence, and considering the intense segregation forced on the world by the ideals of the Avatar for thousands of years, the Fire Nation had always had to rely on its own ability to thrive more than anything else. Sure, trade and cooperation wasn't unheard of in the past; it wasn't like the Avatar was against interaction between countries at all, but even so each of the four nations had been forced to rely on themselves more than their relations with one another.

Point being, the Fire Nation had always possessed a rather small population, and because it wasn't massive like the EK, social issues had a more significant impact on the country. If a fifth of the population was poor in the EK, it barely affected the upper echelon of society. If the same was true in the FN's much smaller population, a huge portion of their potential workforce and future generation was unable to live up to their full potential, which was critical for a small country determined to thrive and grow.

So the Fire Nation had put a lot of effort into making sure the largest possible number of its people could become successful. In that sense the reasons for their humanitarian advancements were actually selfish. But did it really matter? Whether their motivation for fighting poverty, starvation, and bias was moral or selfish, it still achieved the same thing. They were still advancing the living conditions of their people, and as they took over more EK territory, doing the same for those people as well.

By this time Xisheng reached the edge of the forest he was heading for, and he was finally comfortable lighting a very small flame in his hand. At this distance, anyone that spotted him from the city would not be able to differentiate the light from a torch, and if he somehow encountered anyone this far away from Gaoling, Xisheng was certain that he could kill them before they had a chance to expose him.

Besides, he had plenty of trees to cover him as he pondered the nature of the war, as he was often inclined to do in his alone time.

He understood that it was easy to be blinded by anger and hostility during times of conflict, but hadn't anyone asked why the Fire Nation had been so successful in this war so far? Was it not obvious that a massive nation like the Earth Kingdom should have crushed the early Fire Nation advance in no time, unless the country itself was so broken that it couldn't manage to do so?

After all, logically speaking there was no way the Fire Nation should have had the upper hand in a conflict like this. Sure, the FN had marginally superior technology, but most of that technology proved its might on the open ocean. Earthbenders still possessed the capability to destroy FN vehicles, so it wasn't like that was making a huge difference. And of course, the EK had numbers exponentially beyond that of the Fire Nation military. Even if they just conscripted a massive militia, sheer numbers would have likely overwhelmed the Fire Nation in no time at all.

So how was it that this tiny country was winning this war against one more than a dozen times its own size in both mass and numbers, and on almost unstoppable offense no less? Aside from a few stonewalled offensives on cities like Ba Sing Se and Omashu, the Fire Nation had practically steamrolled over EK territory with minimal resistance or casualties.

The math just didn't work, unless the Earth Kingdom was just well and truly a broken system that couldn't even defend itself against a numerically inferior force. And there were of course many reasons why this could be.

Perhaps it was the lack of unity. Omashu had existed almost independent of the EK after all. It had received no aid from any other allied city, and it had certainly not received support of any form from Ba Sing Se, even during the past offensives when the FN had not taken the city in a single day.

On the flip-side, if any one of the Fire Nation's cities was attacked, it would be reinforced from across the country to defend it. There was one army that defended the entire nation, deployed to protect their territory regardless of where it was.

Maybe it was the isolationist attitude of Ba Sing Se, which was of course the most powerful entity in the Earth Kingdom. Ba Sing Se had never made an offensive of its own. It had never sent troops to defend settlements beyond its own walls. It had only ever used its army to defend itself, and nothing more. With the city being comparable to an entire country in and of itself, Xisheng had no doubt that Ba Sing Se could have fielded an army equal or greater to the entire FN military if only it had wanted to.

Perhaps it was a combination of both those things. The disjointed nature of the nation, the uncaring military center of their might, the incompetence of their leadership, whatever it was, it should have been obvious to anyone that the Earth Kingdom was both corrupt and broken.

Did that justify the imperialistic conquest of another nation? Perhaps not, but right or wrong there was no denying that the people in that taken territory were having their ineffectual government replaced by one that actually worked. No one could deny that it was a good turn of events for them.

Ultimately, Xisheng found the Overlord exactly where they had parked it last, still hidden under all sorts of foliage and other forest type disguises. Even though it was deep within the forest and well-hidden, Xisheng decided there was no harm in putting it under a little more cover, just in case. Naturally, up close it looked quite unnatural and no one would have mistaken it for some natural part of the forest, but it would be easily overlooked if anyone was just walking by, if anyone had any reason to be out here in the first place.

Of course there was a subtle trail leading to the vehicle for the ones who had left it there in the first place, but the myriad array of easily missed notches carved into trees would be nothing but scratch marks to anyone but the Fire Nation natives that had left them. Truth be told Mai had to write down each turn for him before he left, but Xisheng knew he didn't have her apparently ridiculous memory, which even Azula had praised at the time of making the trail.

Either way, Xisheng finished his assigned task, and figured it was about time to head back to Gaoling. For a brief moment he wondered if maybe he should have booby trapped the immediate area just in case, but ultimately he decided against it. The garrison at Gaoling didn't even patrol their own city properly. The chances of a patrol coming this far out was almost infinitesimal.

The approach of cloud cover made the return to Gaoling a darker ordeal than the first time, and Xisheng figured that he should have brought a torch for both practicality and appearances. But at least it wasn't so dark that he couldn't see the walls of the city across the plains as moved towards it. Their chalky hue at least reflected moonlight well.

As he traipsed back to the city, it occurred to Xisheng that he had no idea where to go to reunite with his allies. When they had separated Azula had not settled on where they were going to spend the night yet, so it wasn't like he had been supplied with directions or the name of an inn.

Still, he figured that Azula had been well aware of that issue prior to telling him to check on the Overlord, so either one, she had a plan for solving it, or two, she would see it as amusing or a test of some sort. Either way, there was no way to be sure, so Xisheng figured he would just have to discover the truth of things when he got back.

That being the case, he eventually realized that he was getting close when he spotted the orange lanterns of the gate guards. Xisheng had of course heard of those green crystal lanterns that the Earth Kingdom was so famous for, but the truth was that those crystals only grew in Ba Sing Se, so they were pretty rare outside of that city. Sure, they were exported from time to time, and surely Gaoling could have afforded to procure a lot of them, but apparently they had no interest, at least not for the garrison's sake.

Xisheng showed his falsified papers to the guards when he arrived, and he was ushered in without any delay at all. Upon entering the city itself, Xisheng gave the immediate area a precursory glance, but he didn't spot anyone he could recognize, leading him to believe that Azula really was looking to get a kick out of him only making it back to them in the early hours of the morning.

He wondered if this was going to become a normal problem in his current group dynamic… truth be told he wasn't looking forward to such things. Was it a product of his station or was it the way she treated everyone? Azula did find a lot of amusement in getting the best of her actual friends, so maybe it was just her personality?

Before the undercover soldier could extrapolate on that line of thought, he felt something poke him gently in the lower spine. For a brief moment his entire body tensed against his will, but in the next every muscle went completely loose and relaxed beyond anything he had ever experienced. It was only a temporary physical respite, but there was no denying that it was an incredible sensation.

That said, he could only think of one person with enough knowledge on the human body to manipulate it so well, so he didn't even bother saying her name or anything.

"Is this the part where you say 'guess who?"

"Nah, I'm pretty sure you could tell it was me."

Turning to face her, Xisheng decided to question whatever it was that Ty Lee had done to him. "It was pretty obvious. What was that anyway? It felt amazing..."

Ty Lee smiled at him as she wiggled the index finger she had poked him with. "Sorry, it's a secret. My master would be very angry if I was passing his techniques out to anyone that asks. And besides, I had to work hard to earn it, so I'd feel kind of slighted if someone else got it real easy."

Not sure if she was joking or not, Xisheng cocked an eyebrow at her. "How hard exactly?"

"Oh, y'know, just climbing a rocky mountain barefoot, balancing on my pinky finger for a whole morning, breaking my fingers intentionally so they'd grow back stronger, stuff like that. Hard work, yep."

Now even more confused than before, Xisheng decided to question Mai or Azula about whether or not he should put any stock in this later. Though to be fair, he was certain Ty Lee had trained with someone to learn all of her great skills, and considering how rare and useful they were, surely they were dispensed by some master somewhere.

All in all though, he decided that his sanity and peace of mind was more important than asking about that. "So uh, you got elected to wait up for me huh?"

Ty Lee continued to smile. "Nope. I volunteered. Azula was bummed that it would make it easy for you, but I insisted. After all, we really need to talk."

With that she began walking away, obviously expecting Xisheng to follow her. He did so without hesitation, though he was intrigued by the direction this encounter was taking. "Just so you know, those are words that no man ever wants to hear from a woman, regardless of the scenario."

"Don't worry, I'm not mad about anything. This is important, but not because you did anything wrong. Actually, I guess maybe you did…"

She frowned at that, leading Xisheng to do the same. "Well that's not very reassuring…"

The acrobatic wonder turned to walk backwards so she could make eye contact while moving. "Would it be reassuring if I said you did something wrong but I'm not really mad about it?"

"I think you might have to be more specific before I can say yes or no to that."

Stopping in her tracks so she could fold her arms and give him a mild glare, Ty Lee decided it was best to just be upfront about it. There was no need to beat around the bush anyway, since she already knew the issue.

"You think you're beneath me."

It wasn't a question, that much was obvious. That said, it was kind of unusual to hear Ty Lee speak so curtly and forcefully. It kind of reminded Xisheng of Azula for a brief moment.

Still, he wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to respond. After all, she hadn't asked anything of him, and he wasn't sure what her statement had to do with the situation.

"And that's what I did wrong? I don't get it."

Seemingly annoyed by his lack of understanding, Ty Lee's frown deepened by just a little bit. "That's what you did wrong because it is wrong! You didn't deny it, so that's how you feel right?"

Xisheng didn't feel like he was being attacked or anything, but he certainly didn't think too highly of this line of questioning. "Yeah, that's how I feel. I don't see what's wrong with that. You're a noble and I-"

"And you're just a commoner, right? Look, don't get me wrong, I like being and feeling special, but seriously, this nobility business? I never cared for it. I still don't. I want people to look at me and think I'm unique, but I don't want them to think that I'm _better_ than them. How can you really be friends with someone if they feel like they're beneath you?"

Xisheng found it kind of amusing that this was one of those things that Ty Lee got really serious about. It was kind of endearing that she only put on her war face when talking about friendship and stuff.

"But my station is-"

"Don't care."

"And you're-"

"Irrelevant."

"The others probably-"

"Doesn't matter."

The two of them stared at each other in silence since there was nothing else to really say. After all, Ty Lee had rejected all of Xisheng's points on the matter.

After a moment, Ty Lee sharpened her hazel gaze on him even further. "So, you get it right?"

"Uh… I think?"

With a sigh of frustration, she leveled her finger at him. "Alright, I'll make this perfectly clear. You're a soldier."

"Uh-huh."

She then pointed at herself. "And I'm a circus performer."

"That's true."

Her hands went to her hips. "Neither of those sound like a job nobility has, so I guess it means neither of us is nobility."

Xisheng wanted to point out that unless she was actually disowned by her family, Ty Lee was still a noble, but he figured it would go against everything she was trying to do at the moment.

"I… suppose so."

Ty Lee then nodded affirmatively. "Well then, if you're a normal person and I'm a normal person, I see no reason we can't be good friends who treat each other as equals. Right?"

There was a brief moment where Xisheng's training as a soldier and the rules of his society demanded him to decline Ty Lee's offer of equal friendship. In regards to those two things, this just wasn't right. Societal norms demanded that he mind his place in regards to his betters.

But then again, Ty Lee obviously didn't care for that in the least. And Xisheng wasn't an outright moron. The pretty girl was making it perfectly, totally clear that she wanted to screw the rules and be friends at the least. With no room for confusion in regards to whether or not she was alright with it, why on earth would he still say no? He certainly didn't value whatever social norm his nation believed in over the possibility of a personal relationship with the amazing girl standing in front of him.

"I guess you're right. Though I hope you don't get offended if I still act a little overwhelmed by you sometimes. There's really a lot of amazing things you're capable of that I don't think I could ever do."

Finally getting his agreement put her usual smile on Ty Lee's face. "That's not true at all. Anyone could eventually get as good as me if they put the hours into it. It just takes a lot of practice and a good teacher."

Now satisfied that she had cleared up what she considered a heinous error, Ty Lee continued walking again, leading Xisheng to their inn of choice even though he walked abreast of her now.

"Is that so? Could I consider you a good teacher?"

She gave him a look of surprise. "For what in particular?"

Xisheng could only shrug. If he wanted to be honest he could have said 'everything.' Seemingly everything that Ty Lee was good at was certainly worth learning.

"I don't know. Anything you're willing to teach I suppose. You have a great many skills that I imagine anyone would be eager to learn."

Not being a total idiot, Ty Lee figured he was probably referring to her chi-blocking abilities above all, and truth be told she wasn't sure if she liked the idea. She knew that Xisheng was probably considering the combat applications of the style more than anything else, and she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with that. She never used the style to kill anyone, but Xisheng had made it clear already that he had no such qualms with death in the first place.

It might have been unfair of her to judge that, but wasn't a soldier taught to use everything at their disposal to defeat the enemy? If she taught him her technique, it would obviously become part of his arsenal, and by extension it was very likely that he would end up killing someone with it. Ty Lee owed it to both herself and her own teacher to oppose that outcome if she could.

Still, she didn't want to ruin the nice moment the two of them had literally just had together, so she didn't outright tell him no.

"I'm glad you're interested. But you do already have your training with Azula…"

"That's true… but perhaps I could still make time for it. I suppose I'll just keep it in mind if you're open to it."

Ty Lee merely smiled, honestly hoping that Xisheng would just forget about it later on. Truth be told though, she felt kind of guilty for inwardly rejecting him just because of his profession, especially since she would have normally been ecstatic that someone wanted to learn from her of all people.

It was hard to swallow since she considered herself accepting of pretty much everyone, but maybe this was her crowning moment of realization: there was no such thing as being completely devoid of bias or judgment. It kind of stung though, to come to grips with that about herself.

Even so, the rest of their walk to the inner section of Gaoling went smoothly, with Xisheng having clearly reached a new understanding of their relationship thanks to the conversation the two of them had shared not that long ago.

* * *

As expected, the inn that Azula had chosen for herself and her comrades was of a higher quality than anything Xisheng would have chosen in the name of subtlety. It wasn't exactly a locale for the rich alone, but it was definitely above the quality of what a commoner would be able to afford, adorned in the white stone and dark wood that set it apart from the less wealthy part of the city.

Xisheng briefly questioned how on earth Azula had paid for this, but he supposed that she could have easily stocked up on Earth Kingdom currency before leaving Omashu. Had she not been a Princess, she definitely could have been a great logistical officer in the military. She seemed to think of literally everything.

Of course Xisheng ended up getting his own (moderately lower quality) room apart from the girls, but he still found himself in their presence before the night was out. After all, he had to be clued in on the next step of their plan.

The room itself was quite large, and it did indeed sport three separate beds, which Xisheng found a little curious. Not that the room in itself was strange, but he figured that at least one of these teenage girls would have preferred to have a room to herself. He certainly couldn't imagine Ty Lee really caring for a solitary room, but he would have thought that both Azula and Mai would have preferred their own space.

Perhaps Azula was more frugal than she cared to admit.

Either way, Xisheng found himself leaning on the door to the mildly luxurious room. Aside from the silk sheets and nice furniture it was nothing special, but for the life of him Xisheng was honestly glad the room he had been afforded was more basic. He wasn't sure if he could sleep comfortably on anything too terribly soft at this point.

His three companions had situated themselves around the room, but Mai was the only one that looked like she wanted to be asleep already. She'd already shed the black top of her outfit, as well as any of the constricting pieces of gear that would have been uncomfortable to sleep in. Admittedly, she looked especially attractive in the remaining loose fitting attire. Most men preferred to see clothes that were a tight fit, but there was a certain appeal to this as well.

Doing his best to ignore those thoughts, Xisheng merely waited for Azula to enlighten them as to what she had figured out earlier that day while watching Earth Rumble VI. He assumed it would have something to do with that Blind Bandit girl all things considered, but he wasn't going to be presumptuous and speak first.

Thankfully, the heir to the Fire Nation throne wasn't the kind of person to waste time, even when there wasn't an extreme sense of urgency to actually consider.

"I think it's fairly obvious at this point that the Avatar is going to pursue 'The Blind Bandit' as his Earthbending teacher. That said, I also think it obvious that we need to get to her before he does. Our chances of turning her against his request increases exponentially if we can plant the seeds of doubt before he can earn her trust."

Already in a comfortable sleeping position, Mai kept her eyes closed as she weighed in on the situation. "How exactly? All we've got is what she looks like and her ridiculous stage name. And I doubt she'd be as easy to find as the Avatar was."

"The man who runs the tournament is clearly in a position of knowledge. While he might not know everything regarding our quarry, it's extremely likely that he has enough information to set us on the right path. After all, I doubt participation in this event of his is free, so he no doubt has records of some sort."

Still leaning on the door, Xisheng folded his arms. "We likely don't have a lot of time to act. If we want to make contact before the Avatar does, why didn't we speak to the ring leader today?"

Azula turned her amber gaze on him. "If we act too quickly we simply seem suspicious. If we provide a small window of time between then and now, it'll seem as though we merely realized a discrepancy on our own time. We'll let this night pass without issue, and begin to move first thing in the morning. Needless to say I'm certain we'll still be moving with more urgency than our prey."

Leaping onto her own bed with careless abandon, Ty Lee asked a question that Xisheng himself would have were it not for his position of deference to the Princess.

"Question; why didn't we just ambush the Avatar at the Earth Rumble tournament? We probably could have caught him in one of those narrow tunnels, it would have been perfect for fighting an Airbender."

Azula didn't even get a chance to answer, as Mai did it for her. The only questions she ever answered seemed to be the ones she deemed as obvious. "Too many witnesses. Even if we somehow caught their group in the tunnels without anyone else around, the sound of battle would have drawn others to the conflict. And between the Avatar and two Firebenders, who do you think all of those Earthbenders would have sided with?"

Ty Lee looked put out, since her suggestion was seemingly stupid, but Xisheng sided with her. "I'd like to point out that we could probably kill the Avatar with ease if we caught him unaware. There's no need to go all out with bending or anything. Mai has good enough aim to end the hunt quietly and efficiently."

Xisheng could barely see Mai's expression from their differing angles, but he could see the slight crease of a frown even from his position. Still, the talented marksman didn't say anything for or against the idea, instead allowing Azula to retort.

"I'll admit that I'm not completely against simply eliminating the Avatar, but as things stand we're better off taking him alive if we can manage it. If we kill him now we'll simply have another one to deal with in another decade or so. Even being in control of the Northern Water Tribe, there's no guarantee we would be able to locate a new Avatar before they were whisked away to be used against us."

Xisheng countered with the proper level of respect. "Maybe so, but by then we will have won the war for certain. And ten years is plenty of time to solidify our position. It just seems to me that the current Avatar is more of a threat to our cause than his theoretical replacement would be in ten years."

At this point Azula merely shrugged. "Our ultimate goal, as I'm sure you're aware, is to permanently remove the Avatar as a deciding force for the world. In order to do that we can't just kill the Avatar at every opportunity. There's obviously some sort of secret to his reincarnation; until we figure it out, the Avatar will always be a threat to what we're trying to achieve."

It was obvious that Azula was speaking only to him here, as it was unlikely that Mai or Ty Lee had any knowledge whatsoever about the war's underlying revolutionary goal. That said, Mai didn't seem to care anyway, and Ty Lee just seemed bothered by the talk of killing more than confused on any of the other things.

Of course, Xisheng knew that Azula had a point. The Avatar had always been a major obstacle for global unity, because the Avatar had never ceased to exist. However that damned reincarnation cycle worked, it ensured that there was always an Avatar to hold society back. Truly, getting rid of the Avatar once and for all was probably the most important thing the Fire Nation could do for the world. As long as there was some all-powerful being dictating the freedom of human will, the world could never really be free.

Still, couldn't they just focus on smiting the Avatar ten years from now, once everything else was in order? Sure, Azula was the kind of person to do whatever she could as soon as she could, but from Xisheng's point of view it just seemed safer to kill the Avatar now, cement their hold over the Earth Kingdom, and fortify their hold before the next Avatar was old enough to be a problem.

Heck, if the Fire Nation took control, would there even be a need to get rid of the Avatar? Once they were in control every new Avatar could be raised according to proper doctrine.

Of course, you could tell people with nigh unlimited power not to abuse it a hundred times, but when you were the most powerful bender in the history of the world, what was stopping you from doing what you wanted?

Xisheng could remember a time when he questioned the crusade against the Avatar, earlier in life when his retired father had told him about the secret Fire Nation agenda. At the time, Xisheng couldn't see the difference between the Avatar using his power to control other people versus the Fire Lord doing the same thing.

By now the difference was plain as day. One ruler was a man that had been brought to power by the will of his own people. He was the leader of the Fire Nation because the people allowed him to be. Should he become a criminal tyrant, the people of the Fire Nation could revolt and overthrow him. The Fire Lord, like all legitimate rulers in all countries, was part of the social contract, only truly possessing as much power as the people that followed him were willing to tolerate.

The Avatar on the other hand, was beyond such intangibles. The Avatar's position had not been condoned or agreed to by everyone he supervised. Indeed, when the Fire Nation attempted to defy the will of the Avatar, they had been forcibly suppressed by his inhuman power.

Regardless of whether or not the Avatar was trying to do something good or ill, the fact remained that he had no right to demand obedience from others. He simply had power, granted to him by some spirit, that he used to force the world to align with his personal beliefs.

It was not a matter of right and wrong so much as one of free will, and that was something Xisheng understood by now. Humans deserved the right to choose between right and wrong. After all, if you took away that free will, humans were no different from animals.

Merely shrugging, Xisheng decided that it was not his place to question what Azula wanted to do. If she felt that it was preferable to try and take the Avatar alive, so be it.

"So then, we speak to this Xin Fu, and assuming he has enough information for us to act on, we find the Blind Bandit before the Avatar. But what do we do with her?"

Azula smirked at him. "Well naturally it depends on her situation. We don't really know her standing in Gaoling. Obviously it would be ideal to turn her completely against any offer made by the Avatar, but how we do that will vary. Needless to say we'll have to improvise as things unfold. Of course, by extension there isn't actually much to discuss right now… but I feel at this point that these little strategy sessions are practically obligatory."

Sensing that their discussion was at an end, Mai rolled over on her side so she could face away from all of them. "Someone please let me know when that changes."

Picking up on the cue as well, Xisheng finally got off the door and prepared to make his exit. "Very well… when shall you need me awake Princess?"

"The crack of dawn."

"As you will."

He bowed one last time, making his exit at roughly the same time Ty Lee bade him goodnight.

Now left in the presence of only her two female friends, Ty Lee felt comfortable dropping the smile she had more or less plastered on after Xisheng had made her uneasy with his request to learn from her. She did feel well and truly deplorable for holding something against him that wasn't really his fault, but nevertheless she couldn't change what she felt at the drop of a hat.

It really struck her as wrong since she was the one that had insisted they could be good friends, yet now she was uncomfortable with something that a friend should have been alright with. He'd only asked, very sweetly at that, if she would be willing to teach him some of her unique skills. The fact that he had to perform a soldier's duties at some point in the past wasn't really his fault, and it wasn't like she had ever actually seen him kill someone. For all she knew he had simply been bluffing when Azula asked and he didn't really have the heart to kill anyone.

Either way, Ty Lee briefly contemplated asking the Princess if she really intended to have anyone killed for any reason during their mission, but ultimately she figured that asking about her modus operandi would only cause irritation and trouble.

Yet acknowledging that didn't help her sleep any better that night.

* * *

As commanded by Princess, Xisheng was awake at the first sign of light the next morning, having actually slept quite comfortably on a bed that was decent, but still in possession of the solidity he needed to be in a familiar environment. Yet despite his relatively successful period of rest, the young soldier was still awake far earlier than he would have liked, and he was forced to move with urgency once out of bed.

As Azula and Xisheng had both more or less stated the night before, time was of the essence, as they needed to reach their immediate goal before the Avatar did. That said Azula was rushing him without remorse first thing in the morning, though it turned out to just be them. Ty Lee had been sent to do something else of supposedly grave importance, and Mai had more or less told them to fuck off that early in the morning for trying to wake her up.

To be honest Xisheng was surprised that Azula didn't have an issue with that level of defiance, but perhaps she figured that it was pointless to bother with Mai's hatred for any hour before noon. After all, she cooperated when it really mattered, and it wasn't like Azula actually needed her for anything right now. They would simply round her up on the return trip.

In short, Azula and Xisheng were on their way back to the place the Earth Rumble tournament had been held before the sun was even completely past the horizon. Xisheng couldn't help but wonder if the person they were going to talk to would even be there that early, or if he would be at the arena at all, but Azula believed it to be his most likely location, on the basis that he probably had some loose ends to tie up so soon after the tournament.

Moving throughout the city so ridiculously early in the morning was a different experience than doing so during the day. The crowds of people were practically nonexistent, replaced only with soldiers on early morning rounds or store and stall owners that needed some time to set up before the aforementioned crowds made their appearance.

Xisheng worried that the lack of crowds to blend in to would draw attention to him and his head shorter charge, but ironically no one gave them a second glance. Granted, perhaps it was because Azula was moving without her usual regal air (which Xisheng would have thought impossible for her to do intentionally), or maybe everyone was just too tired to bother picking out any one person that was still clothed in green, the quality of that green notwithstanding.

It took the duo the better part of an hour to reach their destination, a trip that was carried almost entirely in silence. Normally Xisheng would have considered such a long silence between himself and the Princess to be troubling, but she wasn't giving off that usual displeased air that was normally present in such situations. It seemed more likely that she was just deep in thought, and he was too tired to initiate a conversation himself.

Either way, entering the Earth Rumble arena this second time was free, unlike the first, since there was no one standing guard. It was only natural, considering that there was no money to be made with no competition occurring.

Yet the seemingly abandoned and eerily quiet tunnels made Xisheng anxious. Truth be told he didn't like being at half strength in such a situation. While Azula was without a doubt the strongest member of their group, Xisheng would readily admit to anyone that he would have felt safer with both Mai and Ty Lee there as well. The truth was he just really didn't like any large amount of earth when potentially surrounded by Earthbenders.

At one time, Xisheng had hated the steel plating of Fire Nation outposts and bases. They had seemed to simply stain the countryside with hideous blots.

And then he had experienced his first ambush while at a temporary camp on the Defensive Line. There was nothing quite like seeing a man burst out of solid ground to launch a spike of earth into a fellow soldier. The brief encounter had lasted no more than a few minutes, but that short battle had been one of the most terrifying that Xisheng had ever experienced.

Enemies continued to erupt from the ground when they were least expected. Some Firebenders found themselves grabbed by the ankles and dragged underground to be killed. The air became a hurricane of earthen spikes and boulders, smashing steel and bone or ripping holes in flesh and blood. Even now, Xisheng sometimes remembered the screams of terror and pain from his fellow ambushed comrades.

Xisheng had never again frowned upon the protective steel of more permanent bases. And while he was not necessarily scared of dirt or anything, being in the very midst of the Earth Kingdom, and in the darkest depth of a mountain at that, Xisheng was more than a little wary. He knew it was paranoia, as no one could possibly know who they were and therefore have a reason to ambush them, but he could not stop imagining the possibility.

If Azula noticed his unease as they progressed, she made no comment on it, having not said a word to him since leaving the inn earlier. While Xisheng had rationalized her silence before, he had to admit that it was a bit disconcerting by now. He felt as though nothing good could ever come from Azula being silent for more than a few minutes, if that.

Perhaps that was unfair of him, but such was the persona the young Princess had erected around herself thus far.

When the duo stepped into the arena they had visited last night, it was completely devoid of anyone at all. The empty chamber was almost eerie, with the insane amount of space it provided and none of the people it was supposed to house present. The fact that any word spoken by Xisheng or Azula would have echoed throughout the entire arena was an intense juxtaposition to how their voices had been drowned out the night before.

However, due to this all-encompassing quiet, it was not difficult to hear the not so faint footsteps reverberating throughout the cavern in the next few moments. It was difficult to pinpoint their origin all things considered, but a glance around the arena itself at least pointed to the most likely location.

On the far right side of the arena was a set of stairs dug into the wall, leading up to some sort of stone box that overlooked the area itself. It seemed to have a doorway and windows, so the likely conclusion was that it served some purpose, and with that purpose, a population of at least one.

Azula wasted no time in proceeding in that direction, with Xisheng hot on her heels as usual. It was unlikely that anyone was here this early other than the ringmaster himself, and Xisheng was mildly concerned with whether or not this Xin Fu was a sharp man. If he was as well informed as he was supposed to be, it wouldn't have been any stretch of the imagination for him to at least be somewhat knowledgeable on foreign cultures as well.

Of course, if, by some astronomical luck, he managed to identify Azula (even recognizing her as a Fire Nation native would be enough, the regal title notwithstanding), Xisheng was positive that she could take him herself, never mind with him by her side.

Somewhat assuaged with that level of faith in Azula's ability, Xisheng concluded that they would be fine, and moreover, the long haired Xin Fu didn't seem anything other than confused when the two of them stepped into his little observatory box. He just seemed curious as to why anyone was here at all, and he assumed right off the bat that their presence had something to do with his business.

"There are no fights today. Get lost."

Xisheng could almost see the slightest of twitches in Azula's expression, likely because she was entirely unused to being spoken down to. Technically this was the very first time she had ever been in a position where her title was not common knowledge, or in a position where that title didn't mean anything other than painting a target on her back.

But she was an excellent actress if nothing else, and anything that may have given her away was wiped from her performance completely.

"We aren't here for that. In fact, we were going to bring up something from last night's tournament."

Xisheng could see that their target was wary of them, perhaps believing them to be guards or something trying to shut down his operation. He moved slightly towards the one desk in the room, the only furniture that was present besides a few bookcases holding ledgers and scrolls. What may have been in that desk was anyone's guess, but if it ended up being dangerous the tight quarters here would be his down fall.

Still, his attempt at evasion was rather transparent.

"I've got no idea what you're talking about."

It seemed to Xisheng that the Princess had to enact a massive force of will to avoid rolling her eyes, mostly because she could not imagine a more pathetic attempt at lying. Still, she managed.

"Oh? I'm sure there was a tournament last night. One in which the reigning champion was defeated by some unidentified, nameless child, costing you a great deal of gold. Or am I mistaken?"

The mention of specific events didn't necessarily mean anything. Considering that the Blind Bandit's defeat was by far the most noteworthy aspect of Earth Rumble VI, it was entirely possible that rumors of the incident had simply circulated well enough for law enforcement to catch wind of it.

However, considering that barely half a day had passed since the tournament itself, and the fact that most of the people who cared to watch it had been present, it seemed very unlikely that anyone bored enough to put an end to Xin Fu's profitable venture had actually heard of it.

"Alright, so you were here last night. Yeah, the Blind Bandit lost. Yeah, I lost pretty much all of the night's profit. What's your point?"

Xisheng determined at this point that he was getting very good at reading the Princess, even though she was so good at controlling her expression. He could just see it in her eyes when she was judging someone. Something along the lines of 'can't this fool put two and two together' he imagined.

"My friend and I were entirely enraptured by the battle last night. After watching the Boulder decimate all of his competition only to be so easily defeated by the champion, it just didn't seem possible for her to be bested so easily by some random member of the audience. In fact, what struck us the most last night was that the boy who challenged the Blind Bandit didn't use any Earthbending move we had ever seen. There was no projectile, no quake; the Blind Bandit seemed to be ejected from the ring without any impact whatsoever."

Xin Fu was halfway to saying that he had no idea what she was getting at, that the boy who had challenged the champion had obviously used Earthbending or else he wouldn't have won, but now that someone had explicitly brought the fight to his attention he realized that something did seem a little off.

He had organized a lot of Earthbending fights in his lifetime. He had also been a participant in a fair number of battles himself. And even beyond those two things he just knew how Earthbending worked, and analyzing the fight more closely now that someone had brought it to his attention, Xin Fu could say with certainty that there was something wrong with the way in which the Blind Bandit had been defeated. The manner in which her attack had been negated, the way she had been launched from the ring without the resounding thud of a solid impact, it all just seemed wrong somehow. And due to this love of money, he knew how to do the math.

"That little… she threw the match? To split the money with that kid?"

Azula merely shrugged. "That seems like the logical conclusion."

While she was not mistaken in that, it still didn't add up for Xin Fu. The Blind Bandit's identity was a mystery to most everyone in Gaoling, but not to him. He had certainly not let a twelve year old girl he knew nothing about enter an illegal fighting circuit, for no other reason than because the charges leveled against him would have been much more severe if someone of that age was trounced by grown men.

Yet she had proven herself to be a more than capable fighter, and she had provided more than enough money to cover all of her entrance fees for each of the tournaments she participated in.

Point being that Xin Fu knew that Toph Beifong had money. The Beifongs were one of the wealthiest families in the southern Earth Kingdom, so there was no chance in hell that the Bandit would throw away her title and her pride for the relatively measly amount of gold she would have gotten from this scam.

So what was it then? Charity? The silly puppy love of a child? Ultimately, did it really matter? Xin Fu had been conned out of his money. No one got away with that.

His course set, the admittedly imposing man pounded his fist into his palm. "She'll regret that. No one steals from me!"

Azula smirked, pleased at how easy it was to manipulate the greedy. "You have a plan in mind?"

"Why would I tell you?"

"Well, it is I who brought this to your attention. Moreover, if you plan on making any offensive action towards this girl, you'll need assistance."

"From civilians? Why bother?"

"Mercenaries, actually. I lead a small band. It seems to me that you could use some experienced aid."

Xin Fu didn't consider it for a moment. "In case you haven't noticed, I have plenty of Earthbenders willing to get back at the Blind Bandit and make some coin while doing it. Why spend whatever sum your troop is asking for when I have them?"

Azula had never specifically said that she was supposed to do all the talking, so Xisheng felt alright weighing in here. "You mean the Earthbenders that were all easily defeated by the Boulder, who was then completely obliterated by the very girl you're going after? I think it's obvious that those odds are against you."

Unfortunately, Xin Fu couldn't quite refute that. He had seen enough of the Blind Bandit in action to know that she was far superior to any of the other fighters under his wing. Even with superior numbers he wasn't overly confident in the average rabble he could assail her with. But then again, at least he knew the capabilities of his own flock. He didn't know anything about the skill of this supposed mercenary group.

"Say I accept your offer. How much is your fee? And what exactly am I getting for it?"

For a moment it almost looked like Azula was genuinely enjoying the charade. "Assuming we succeed, a mere fifteen percent of your profit will suffice. As for what you're getting, a master hand-to-hand martial artist, an extraordinary marksman, an elite ex-army commando and an expert Earthbender."

Up front it sounded like a good deal. After all, fifteen percent of the gold he planned on getting back was less than Xin Fu would have had to pay all of his flunkies. But again, the only evidence he had of the ability of these mercenaries was their word.

"Assuming you succeed. And what if you fail?"

"Then you pay us nothing, obviously."

"You expect me to believe that you'll keep your word on that?"

The Crown Princess in disguise folded her hands behind her back. "We're with the guild. If you submit a legitimate contract we'll have no choice but to agree to the terms."

Truth be told Xisheng did not know much about the 'guild' in the Earth Kingdom. The fact of the matter was that the Earth Kingdom was massive, and in comparison the governing forces that policed the land rarely managed to do so very effectively. So bounty hunters and mercenaries were an extremely popular means of hunting down wanted individuals or completing underhanded work.

Still, getting off the ground solo was rather difficult, so the majority of mercenaries had more or less grouped together into a guild of sorts to increase their own availability and workflow. Technically there were dozens of guilds, but since each and every one of them functioned in the same manner they were all collectively referred to as 'the guild.'

Ironically, the very existence of the guild was contradictory. For example, this theoretical capture of an Earth Kingdom citizen was illegal. And yet, the existence of the guild itself was perfectly legal, as the authorities never bothered to shut down the system that did so much of their work for them. Honestly many mercenaries did honest work and hunted down criminals or fugitives, but there were just as many that took underhanded and illicit contracts like the one Azula and Xin Fu were discussing now.

Still, Xin Fu seemed glad to learn that his mysterious conversational partners were supposedly legitimate mercenaries, because it gave him all sorts of advantages. For one, he could get them on contract through the guild, and then they'd have to abide by the set terms without complaint, which included not paying them anything at all if they failed. Secondly, if they were part of the guild he could actually investigate just how good they were supposed to be.

"Very well. Let's go to the guild now then. I want this done as soon as possible."

"In that case we'll need to go ahead and gather the rest of our members. Just leave the contract for us and we'll take it from there."

"What's the name of your group?"

For a brief moment, Xisheng questioned the kind of interesting names he could have come up with as a kid. After all, most young boys liked to imagine themselves as a member of some legendary company of heroes. Groups like the Rough Rhinos and the Storm Riders had inspired lots of young men to join the army in hopes of one day having cool stories of their own to tell.

To be fair, Xisheng was fairly certain his own division back on the Defensive Line had earned itself quite the reputation with all of the attacks they had fended off. Maybe he'd get back to the Fire Nation one day to find out he had been a part of The Impenetrable Wall or The Invincible Shield or something.

"We have no specific title. We're group number forty one on the roster."

Xin Fu simply folded his arms, nodding his confirmation. "Then get out of here. I'll have the contract written within the hour."

Azula said nothing, and she certainly made no sign of respect to the man as she turned to leave. Xisheng simply followed her out. Once they were far enough away that he was sure Xin Fu wouldn't hear him, Xisheng decided to break the silence. He had a lot of questions for one, but he opened up with a comment anyway.

"Couldn't even think of a name for us? That's bland."

The Crown Princess cocked an eyebrow at him. "You honestly thought I would make some silly gimmick name for this hoax we're pulling? Don't be ridiculous. Besides, considering our cover I couldn't have named us anything appropriate."

Xisheng smirked, wondering if Azula would have actually come up with 'some silly gimmick' name if she had been allowed to use 'dragon' or 'dawn' or something in it.

"Well, that aside, what's this about an 'elite ex-army commando' business? That was high praise."

"Don't let it go to your head, I just needed him to believe we are capable. That said you had best not relay what I said about Mai or Ty lee either."

"Come now Princess, there's nothing wrong with complimenting your friends…"

Azula merely scoffed, and by the time the duo made their exit from the mountain Xisheng moved onto the actual plan of action.

"I assume you've already set everything up for this mercenary cover of ours?"

"So long as Ty Lee has done her job properly, we should already be an 'established' mercenary troop working with the local guild."

"Not that I don't have faith in her, but what if she doesn't succeed?"

Azula didn't even seem to consider the possibility. "She's equipped with a lot of money and she knows how to flirt her way around any simplistic moron. It'll be fine."

Taking her word for it, Xisheng merely nodded. "So, we're going to use this contract as evidence of a hit on the Blind Bandit, and offer her our protection, correct?"

"I'm glad you caught on. By now I've deduced that our target is someone of at least moderate wealth. Even the garb she wore during the tournament was of a high enough quality to be above the common class here in Gaoling. And of course, she's but a child. If I'm right and she comes from money, then it seems extremely unlikely that her parents would be knowingly using her skill to make money in such a fashion."

"Meaning she's probably doing it under their noses."

"Most likely. If her parents don't know she's so competent in combat they'll likely welcome the idea of extra protection. And even if they are aware of her talents, success is still likely. We've acted quickly enough that we'll probably be at least moderately ingrained before the Avatar makes his appearance; and with the threat of hunters looming over their daughter's head, it's unlikely their parents will take him at face value."

Now entering the actual outskirts of Gaoling, Xisheng noted that they were vaguely heading back in the direction of the inn, probably to pick up Mai.

"Her parents might be easy to fool, but what about the girl herself? She's the one who's dangerous, and she's the one we have to try and alienate from the Avatar."

"True enough. Unfortunately that is something we can't account for until we're in the thick of it. If we're lucky, she's skilled, but not overly intuitive. If we're unlucky, she's as clever as someone of her combat aptitude implies. We can only change our approach as we learn more."

Xisheng had to admit that Azula was so quick with the plans that it kind of scared him. She had figured all of this out sometime between now and the end of Earth Rumble VI last night? Xisheng himself had a decent aptitude for strategic warfare and combat tactics, but this subterfuge business wasn't quite up his alley.

When they made it into view of the inn they had stayed at the night before, there was no need to go inside at all. Mai seemingly just materialized at their side once they were near. It wasn't right to say they were surprised though, as her silent arrival was perfectly fitting for her. She still looked tired and irritated, but she was fully prepared for whatever the day might bring, which included life or death combat.

All things considered there was no exchange of good mornings, since they all knew Mai didn't care for it. They simply proceeded towards their next destination, most likely to round up their last member. Naturally Azula didn't bother explaining anything to Mai, since it would just require her to explain everything a second time when they got Ty Lee around again.

Xisheng didn't know when or where Azula had learned the location of the local mercenary branch, but either way she led everyone right to the large cube building that was mostly unassuming and the same color and material as the rest of Gaoling. Perhaps the architects figured that it was better to remain as subtle as possible, since it invited less scrutiny.

Ty Lee was standing outside the building, obviously waiting for her companions to come find her. While not as quiet as Mai, she came to join them in the same manner when she laid eyes on them.

Naturally, the first thing Azula did was question whether or not the girl had found success. "So? Any difficultly?"

Her childhood friend folded her arms and frowned. "No, but I hope you really appreciate it. That guy at the front desk was a total sleaze. He came _this_ close to touching me somewhere he shouldn't and I wasn't even allowed to paralyze him! Also, he was like, forty!"

If Azula felt bad for any of that it certainly didn't show on her face, and definitely not in her words. "I'm sure you escaped the situation relatively unscathed. Did you see the announcer from the tournament last night make an entrance yet?"

"About twenty minutes ago. He already left though."

"Guess he wasn't joking about wanting to get things underway as soon as possible. Well then, come with me, we have to actually get our hands on the contract now that it's been written."

She was speaking specifically to Ty Lee, so Xisheng figured he should ask, and for Mai while he was at it. "Do you require our presence as well?"

The Princess merely waved her hand in dismissal. "That won't be necessary. We should only be a few minutes."

He said nothing to that, instead turning to watch the city itself as his charge and his friend entered the building. You never knew when the enemy would become aware, so he was determined to at least keep an eye on anyone that decided to enter the guild.

Mai clearly did not care to do the same, choosing to lean on the building itself and close her eyes for a few moments of rest. Xisheng could not imagine that she was feeling very energetic all things considered, so he didn't bother saying anything to her. He for one knew that he didn't like being bothered with conversation in the early hours of the morning.

Nothing of note happened for the few minutes the two of them stood out there alone, and soon enough Azula was back with a scroll in her hands. Xisheng could only assume that this was the contract in question, though Mai, having been relatively left out of the loop, questioned the situation.

"So? What's the deal?"

The Crown Princess unrolled the parchment she was holding so she could share the details in full. "On a technicality, our forty-first mercenary company of the local Gaoling branch has been hired to capture a certain Toph Beifong for fifteen percent commission on an undisclosed amount of profit. Ironically this Toph person is apparently a nonexistent individual, but Xin Fu privately identified her as the Blind Bandit, so this is indeed the girl we're looking for."

Mai cocked an eyebrow. "Beifong as in the richest noble family of the southern Earth Kingdom?"

"The same."

"Uh-huh. So what's the actual plan?"

Azula rolled the scroll back into shape so she could keep it pristine. "Well, thanks to a hefty portion of the funds I brought from Omashu, as well as Ty Lee's influential charisma, we're technically already well-established as a reliable and experienced mercenary group that's been working in the Gaoling branch for months. All we have to do now is approach the Beifong family of this irrefutable evidence of danger to their mysterious daughter, and offer our protection. We become the girl's personal guards and we're without a doubt ahead of the Avatar."

Mai kept her arms folded. "I guess bribery works all the same no matter where you are… Still, the plan might work out in theory, but there's all sorts of things that could come up or go wrong. What then?"

Unfortunately, the knife thrower didn't get an answer that she found personally assuring, though the tone was tinged with Azula's usual amusement.

"Come now Mai, all plans only work in theory. There has never been a successful plan of action that did not require some degree of adaptability to the unknown."

Needless to say this true yet irritating answer simply earned a sigh from Mai, and Azula dropped the topic in order to begin leading the group to their final destination. While they had been in Gaoling for less than twenty four hours, it seemed that Azula already knew where everything was. Though, to be fair, perhaps she had simply asked a lot more varied questions the day before during their search for information. It seemed very like her to gather a wider array of intelligence on everything even remotely relevant. Including the location of the very large Beifong estate apparently.

Said estate was completely walled off from the rest of the city, though it was mostly isolated from it in the first place being on the outskirts of Gaoling. It made it rather easy to spot at least, since it was roughly out in a wider area all by its lonesome, with tall walls and a large gate sectioning it off.

Said gate had a green emblem with a flying boar above it, and Xisheng for one couldn't imagine how an airborne pig could be seen as noble in any way or form. Strangely there were no guards outside the gate itself, and Azula took the opportunity to relay the last bit of information to her allies before they got started.

"Alright everyone, obviously this is a mission of subterfuge. The most important thing is selling who we are. Between you and myself Mai, there's no concealing our rather distinctive features in close and personal quarters, so the two of us fled from the Colonies a few years ago after the rebel movement was crushed. Ty Lee, you and the Lieutenant are from Omashu, no need to risk being Gaoling natives. We formed this mercenary troop a year ago, looking for work. If anyone asks we know very little about each other's lives before all of this, so we don't have to risk answering false personal questions. Also, I would hope this would be obvious Lieutenant, but no Firebending, no matter what. As far as our initial impression goes, let me do all the talking. Are we clear?"

Everyone nodded, since it was clear enough how things were going to proceed from here. Azula was the best orator anyway, so whenever verbal deception needed to be employed she was probably the best choice.

With all of that out of the way, Xisheng watched as Azula led them to the large stone doors of the Beifong residence, and he wondered if the relatively matching outfits of the girls would actually support their cover story now. In that light, maybe he should have been in uniform too, but apparently even Azula couldn't predict absolutely every outcome.

Either way, knocking on the large doors produced a much smaller sound than anyone was expecting in comparison. There was nearly a full minute before the gates actually creaked open by the slightest of inches, where a guard looked out to see who was daring to bother the residents of the estate.

Really, he didn't even open it enough for any of the Fire Nation infiltrators to see more than his face, but apparently he was being wary.

"This is private property. State your intentions."

Azula merely held out the scroll she had appropriated. "I believe your master will find this of critical importance."

The guard in the beige alternative to a typical Earth Kingdom uniform simply made to shut the door. "Mr. Beifong has no interest in whatever you're selling."

Deciding that the best way to proceed was to simply cut to the chase, Azula did just that. "This concerns the safety of his daughter."

Needless to say the door ceased its movement immediately, and the guard thrust it open as quickly as he could to level his grizzled old gaze on the quartet of young people before him. As an ex-soldier himself, he could feel on an almost instinctual level that they were more dangerous than they looked.

More than that though, the mention of his employer's daughter was most urgent. All of the guards here were sworn to secrecy, and no one in Gaoling should have known about her existence.

He warily took the rolled up parchment Azula was offering, opening it for his own viewing convenience. For obvious reasons his expression was all shock in mere moments, and he quickly turned it back on the strangers at the Beifong's door.

"Get in here. Now!"

No one in the current group liked being told what to do so brusquely, but for now they had to act subordinate, so they did what they were told, only to find that six guards were moving in to surround them once the gates were closed and they were locked within the estate grounds. Of course, such a thing was to be expected, since their own presence here was suspect.

The guard that had answered the door quickly ordered everyone to watch them while he sprinted for the mansion that rested across the estate gardens, and Azula did her best to refrain from smirking in success and celebration.

Everything had been set in motion, and the first stage of her trap for the Avatar was in place. All she had to do was weave an even more complex net.

* * *

 **You know, I feel like the Boulder doesn't get enough appreciation for actually being a good fighter. Sure, he lost to Toph pretty quickly, but that's not really a fair comparison (as said in a previous chapter, the gap between elite and average is as wide as the gap between elite and prodigy). Like, outside of Toph and Bumi, I think the Boulder is actually the best Earthbender we see?  
**

 **Out of curiosity, which obscure side character do you think was the strongest in their art, excluding main characters like the GAang, main villains, and major side characters like the White Lotus or Hama?**


	8. By the Merits of Incompetence

**So, I didn't even realize it had been so long since the last update. I hate to say it, but it's less a matter of being busy (even though there has been a lot of work and writing to do) and more of just the time flying by without me even realizing it. I was checking the stories again for which one was in line to be updated next, only to be utterly shocked to see it had been essentially four months since the last update for this one. I just really don't know where the time has gone recently, and I'm really sorry about that. I guess with the hassle of finally living in my own place and all of the troubles that come with that, time really flew.**

 **Anyway, there have been numerous mentions of a little too much saturation as far as politics (and to a lesser extent romance) are concerned. And admittedly, it has been pretty heavy handed these opening chapters. To be fair, the reason we get so introspective is mostly because there hasn't been a whole lot of action yet, so there's not much else to do. The good news is that said action is coming our way, so there'll be a lot less musing on politics, girls, or morality in general.**

 **However, it's probably important to make this clear; all three of those things are pretty critical to this story. In fact, the story might be entirely comprised of those three things. I'll be cutting back on long-winded internal meditations, but those three topics are still going to be very important and they aren't going to be glossed over. But, maybe not too many more really long internal monologues at the least.**

* * *

Azula was someone very used to being escorted, regardless of the destination. She had grown up constantly being under the watchful eye of her father's subordinates, but that was a great deal different than the wary gazes of the men that watched her group as they were escorted into the residence of the Beifong family. Not that Azula could claim she was unused to such a scenario; her mother, when she had still been around, had often recruited servants to the noble cause of reporting all of Azula's misdeeds. And naturally, Ursa had seen almost everything Azula did as some sort of heinous crime, so that was always a hassle. On the bright side, Azula often scared said slaves into silence with threats of being burned alive. She had always found it amusing that they wouldn't dare report the worst thing she actually did.

Point being, there were six of the Beifong's guard detail escorting them to what she presumed would be the family head himself, and despite the fact that their unknown identities clearly worked in their favor, she felt somewhat irked that they had received such a small detail to keep an eye on them. She alone was deserving of far more guards than this to even try and keep her in check. And taking her friends into account, the Beifongs should have had a quintessential army out here.

But of course, they were just a group of sell-swords to these blissfully ignorant fools. If only they knew who they had let waltz right into their midst, they'd probably have a heart attack.

The quartet of Fire Nation infiltrators was escorted past many different symbols of wealth, though not a one of them really understood how they served such purposes, since they mostly came in various different models of winged boars. Whether it was green tapestries with golden embroidered pigs or actual stone statues of the aerial hogs, it seemed to be a well-respected animal around these parts. Whether the Beifongs had adopted the symbol because it was revered or if the animal had become respected thanks to the family's prestige was a mystery. But for the likes of Fire Nation natives, no amount of explanation could convince them that a pig with wings was a noble animal of any sort. Probably had something to do with the array of vastly superior and formidable fauna that inhabited their island homeland. It was difficult to respect flying bacon when big scary reptiles were the norm.

Their destination was, of course, a halfway refined room that likely served as the Beifong's place of reception for guests they wished to impress. Despite the Earth Kingdom's many primitive ways their nobility apparently still had some sense of decorum, though compared to Fire Nation nobility the room Azula's group was ushered into was rather plain. While the subdued green carpets and pale chalky walls were clearly made of prime material, the only real piece of 'prestige' to be seen in the chamber was the large double throne of sorts that the Bei Fong patriarch rested in, alongside his wife. It was an odd piece of furniture that seemed much too large for its intended purpose, especially since there was a large divider between the two people that used it. What was the point of sitting in a position of prominence alongside your spouse with such separation between you?

Understanding of the culture aside, Azula was not at all impressed by the head of the Beifong family, a rather unusual man with a long mustache and a likely permanent expression that seemed adverse to fun or amusement of any sort whatsoever. His wife was a very pretty woman with narrow eyes that bore the light of naivete in them, in a way that was somehow even more clueless than the kind Ty Lee had. As much as Azula ribbed her childhood friend about being an airhead, she knew the brunette was actually wise in her own way. It was just a particular set of knowledge that she carried.

But the time for such admittance was over, because considering the situation at hand, Lao Beifong wasn't going to give his guests much time to think. "You had better do a very good job of convincing me why I shouldn't have my men throw you in a cell. How dare you come to my doorstep with a threat against a member of my family!"

Now, while people often gave Azula credit for her acting ability, very few truly understood the depths of her prowess. She was so good at pretending that she was even capable (begrudgingly so) of acting subservient to an Earth Kingdom noble, folding in half at the waist in a sign of reverence. Even though none of her friends could see her face at that moment, it was obvious that her soul was hurting from the motion. Her dedication to the cause really couldn't be questioned, that was for sure.

"Esteemed Master Beifong, I'm sure you have already realized the implications of our presence here, we-"

Lao cut her off, something that almost broke Azula's sturdy facade. "Indeed I have! You have a contract of sorts for the head of my daughter, and you are mercenaries, are you not?! It seems quite clear to me what is implied by your presence!"

Mai resisted the urge to make an exasperated motion of any sort. Apparently this man had come to the conclusion that they were here to capture his daughter; and instead of telling his men to keep them at bay or outright attack them, he had them brought right into the confines of his home? Didn't this just mean he was a moron?

For those familiar enough with the girl to detect it, it was obvious that Azula thought the same thing. There was that slightest bit of condescending frustration in her voice that she just barely failed to mask.

"Master Beifong, while we are indeed a mercenary group, surely you don't believe we would declare our presence and our intentions so blatantly? We've no desire to see harm come to your daughter, from our hands especially."

While still wary, Lao admitted to himself that it wouldn't make sense for anyone that wanted to hurt Toph to announce themselves at the front gate. There were still many questions to be asked however, though Poppy beat him to one of them.

"Why is this happening? Who would want to harm our darling Toph? What kind of person would even think of something like this?"

Momentarily ignoring his wife's duress, Lao focused on the more important question. "I'm more interested in 'how' this happened. No one in Gaoling should even know that Toph exists, save Master Yu. And considering how much he gets paid to teach her I doubt he has any interest in misfortune befalling my daughter. So, mercenaries; who hired you to come here?"

While the only acceptable outcome of this situation was to get on Lao's good side, Azula had to at least make it seem like her only concern was personal gain. "With all due respect Master Beifong, revealing that now would only deprive my comrades and I from a handsome reward..."

While dense in many regards, Lao didn't miss what Azula was implying, though he certainly wasn't happy about it. "You wish me to pay you just to leave without trouble? I have more than enough guards to evict you with no such loss to my wealth."

"Nothing of the sort, Master Beifong. We may be... entrepreneurial freelancers, but we expect to carry an appropriate amount of weight for our pay in any situation. Rather than paying us to leave without trouble, it would be more beneficial to both parties to hire a little extra security, wouldn't you say?"

Lao frowned immediately, torn on whether or not he actually approved of that idea or was suspicious of it. "Once again, I say I have plenty of guards to keep my home secure and my daughter safe. What need do I have of such young and inexperienced brigands?"

Azula was sure the whole group had taken some offense at being labeled as brigands, as she did as well, but things were actually playing out in their favor. "Young we may be, but it has no bearing on our skill. I mean no offense to your guardsmen, but, well... we've dealt with their caliber plenty of times before, and warriors of our skill are fairly common in the Guild..."

From the downright terrified look on Poppy's face, it was clear that Azula had her caught already. The woman would probably buy into any tall tale that could be spun. Azula could probably say that dragons would descend on Gaoling to raze it to the ground, and Poppy would rush to prepare for the apocalypse.

Lao on the other hand had a healthier degree of skepticism, though he was quite far from the toughest nut Azula had ever crushed into pieces. One more move would be enough to secure their position here at the Beifong estate, especially with the anxious whispers Poppy sent her husband's way, though her nervousness failed to keep the volume down.

"Lao, your men haven't fought anything more than a stray thief in years! If experienced warriors come after Toph, s-she'll be-!"

With a deep breath, Lao eyed the strangers before him again. No matter how he tried to picture it, he couldn't see them as being dangerous at all. Aside from the fact that none of them appeared to be over eighteen, three of them were girls. Only the young man in the back, with the clear musculature of a seasoned warrior, looked like he could pose any threat to anyone.

But despite his own skepticism, there was an easy enough way to prove the worth of these unusual soldiers for hire. "If you're so confident in the incompetence of my men, I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to prove your worth against them. If you can defeat the ones who escorted you here I'll hire you to protect my daughter alongside them; and expect you to share what you know about this contract. Fair enough?"

Absolutely confident in their ability to prove exactly that, Azula donned her trademark smirk for the first time in this meeting. "Absolutely. I presume we are going to do this outside?"

Lao motioned towards the door rather than answering, starting the small procession that was himself, his guards, and the strangers in his home. Not one to appreciate violence in any form whatsoever, Poppy stayed behind, going to check on her darling daughter out of some misguided attempt for solace.

Despite being a mansion, the Beifong estate was actually a relatively small one, and it didn't take long for everyone to make it outside. They stopped in the gardens, for the implied reason that there was no particular grounds for intensive combat training. Lao didn't look very happy about that, for the easily made assumption that at least one of his men was an Earthbender. Then again, if that were true that same Earthbender should have reasonably been able to fix whatever damage he caused after the fight: provided that he was in any shape to do anything at all.

In fact, with enough space between them and their would be opponents to at least whisper without fear of eavesdropping, Azula made one thing clear to the currently deadliest member of their crew: Ty Lee.

"Take it somewhat easy on them Ty Lee; we all need to look good here."

The girl in question folded her arms and pouted, only pretending to be disappointed. She _did_ like showing off, but she didn't enjoy fighting very much, so she didn't mind holding back so her friends could do more of the heavy lifting.

And of course, since neither Azula nor Xisheng could do any Firebending, it was true that Ty Lee would be the most formidable in this situation. It may have been Mai if they were aiming to kill the opposition, but since it was coming down to hand to hand combat that wasn't the case. Of course, if there was an Earthbender to contend with, Mai could be the solution to that problem.

As for Xisheng, he would have been mildly concerned if not for the allies at hand. Firebending definitely possessed one of the more practical forms of utilization compared to the other elements; the martial art used for Firebending was much more useful in actual hand to hand than say, water or air bending. Fortunately for Xisheng, his experience on the defensive line meant he was even more skilled in using that medium for real combat than most Firebenders. Still, possessing a valuable skill like Ty Lee's would have been useful for these types of situations.

Regardless, Azula was certainly not one to waste time or mince words, especially since there was only a limited window for everything to occur before the Avatar inevitably showed his face.

"We're ready whenever you are, Master Beifong. We'll be sure to leave your security detail able-bodied by the time we're through."

As always, Azula's demeanor didn't go over well, but it served its purpose in getting things underway without unnecessary pomp and circumstance. Clearly Lao didn't like the way such a young girl was talking to the noble head of a wealthy household, so he hoped his men would be able to teach her and her friends a well-earned lesson; even though Poppy was right in saying they may have been out of practice.

"I hope for your sake your skill is as great as you say. Yan, go ahead and begin!"

His command clearly received by whichever beige clad guardsmen was Yan, he and his five comrades made their move, albeit slowly. It was clear by the looks on their faces that none of them felt comfortable attacking a group of teenagers that comprised of three girls. The Earth Kingdom had always been a little slow on the uptake; women that could fight were infinitely scarier than men.

It was easy to tell which men were benders long before they managed to lift any rocks. For one, the two that there were carried no weapons, unlike their other comrades. On top of that, their first movements were large, heavy ones that telegraphed their intention to shift the earth in some way or another.

The first Earthbender that attempted to lift his foot found it nailed to the ground by two expertly placed knives. Xisheng found it kind of disturbing that Mai could place steel that close to the body without actually cutting anything, but apparently the soles were large enough targets to hit as opposed to toes.

It was obvious from the awkward movements of the armed men that they weren't sure how aggressive to be considering the unarmed nature of most of their opponents, but once Azula planted her heel in Yan's abdomen, that hesitation quickly faded.

The tip of a spear was the first thing to come Xisheng's way, stabbing at him in a rather textbook frontal assault. Said assault allowed the seasoned bender to sidestep the attack, then stomp the outstretched blade into the ground. Snapping the shaft in two with an axe kick was a simple follow up, considerable strength notwithstanding.

Ty Lee on the other hand had no such need for nullifying the weapons of the enemy. There was simply no danger to her, as her reflexes and flexibility avoided every swipe of the blade. Even with two men focused on her alone, she seemed to be dancing for fun more than fighting, leisurely jabbing her knuckles into a limb when she saw an opening. Considering that she had landed six hits already but her opponents were still standing, it was clear that she truly was playing around.

By this time the Earthbender that wasn't trying to yank his foot out of the ground had managed to lift a decent chunk of earth, but his means of attack was about all that could be expected. To be fair, the majority of Earthbending was just throwing rocks in one fashion or another.

Unfortunately that did pose a threat to Xisheng since he couldn't Firebend, which would have allowed him to kick a projectile of this size into dust. As it was he had to settle for evading the boulder, which harmlessly soared past him for a brief moment. It was a surprise however, when the Earthbender recalled the projectile after it missed the mark, forcing Xisheng to avoid it much less gracefully since it caught him off guard. He hadn't seen that kind of maneuver employed before.

The same Earthbender split the rock in two once it was in his grasp again, this time aiming for targets that weren't paying attention to him in the form of Ty Lee and Mai. Unfortunately for him, splitting the chunk of earth made the two projectiles small enough for Xisheng to destroy in the middle of their flight. But unfortunately for Xisheng, he was used to smashing such projectiles with both the aid of his bending and the steel plating of his uniform; in fact, he had done exactly that so many times without injury that his leg was already slicing through the air before he realized that this time it would actually hurt.

Thankfully he had still kicked with good form, using the heel of his foot rather than his toes, so he avoided any broken bones. What he didn't do was avoid enough pain to resist cursing after demolishing the projectiles.

"Shit! Argh-fu-!"

He found a hand clasped over his mouth before he could finish, courtesy of a mockingly irate Ty Lee. "Nope, none of that! Shame on you!"

Xisheng tore her hand off his mouth as he furiously tried to rub the pain out of his heel. "I think I'm justified with this one!"

Mai almost leisurely backed away from the edge of a sword, overhearing the brief exchange as she did so. "You kicked a pair of rocks, you're not justified in the least."

"I'll keep that in mind with the next one that comes your way!"

With no appropriate retort to that, Mai left him alone, instead focusing on the 'fight' that was already looking grim for their opponents. The two men that Ty Lee had struck were feeling weak and wobbly, rather than completely paralyzed since she hadn't gone all out. Mai was more or less screwing with the same Earthbender she had started with, repeatedly nailing both of his boots to the ground every time he managed to free himself. By now he was just using his arms, but with two of his limbs immobilized he wasn't capable of performing any overly creative or powerful moves.

Azula had already knocked out the man she had struck first, with a very similar attack judging by the vaguely foot shaped bruise on his face. She was already pressuring another victim with a flurry of strikes that utilized her claw like nails.

In short, Xisheng was the only one who hadn't contributed overly much, and despite being mostly practical and cool-headed, it still kind of stung his pride to be shown up by a trio of girls with no 'real' combat experience. He was practically a veteran soldier by now, he couldn't be so inept as to get carried to victory.

So, he settled on taking out both Earthbenders, since Mai couldn't really do anything other than repeatedly immobilize her target.

The first step was to take vengeance for his poor bruised heel, so Xisheng began a steady advance towards the Earthbender that had damaged him, preparing for a similar onslaught to the first. Ironically this was exactly what had gotten him hurt in the first place.

The Earthbender, naturally preferring to keep his target at bay, began lifting and throwing fist sized rocks at Xisheng in a relatively steady stream. Thing was, Xisheng had actually punched a lot of rocks in his lifetime. Usually it was with the aid of his Firebending, but at times he had been caught off guard and forced to physically counter such projectiles, and so long as they were a manageable size, he was actually pretty good at deflecting them. He'd only hurt himself smashing the other rocks because he acted without realizing that he didn't have the usual boons in this situation, that being his bending and his armor. Now that such deficiencies were in focus he would be able to minimize damage to himself.

The key to physical deflection of small boulders was all about negating the incoming force of the projectile. In fact, you weren't even trying to smash it; you just wanted to direct it away from you. Like any projectile a bent boulder only had significant force in one direction. Applying an equally significant force in a different one often nullified the danger, as long as you weren't stupid enough to try and apply that force in the exact opposite direction. Generally the human hand lost against rocks.

And Xisheng had done this enough times to know how to properly hit said rocks to avoid broken fingers, so he continued to steadily advance even as he batted aside incoming stones with precision chops and hooks. Since he was aiming to deflect rather than destroy, he didn't even have to hit them all that hard, which helped in avoiding serious injury.

The Earthbender, openly intimidated by the ineffectiveness of his assault, nevertheless continued it as he tried to retreat backwards. Unfortunately he wasn't backpedaling as fast as Xisheng was moving forward, and only a few more rocks got in the way of a quick melee. And unfortunately for that out of practice guardsmen, it was quick indeed. Many benders were less than adequate in melee combat because of how much they relied on fighting at range. And even though Xisheng considered his CQC less deadly than his bending, he was actually quite proficient at it in comparison. The frenzied battles on the EK Defensive Line often devolved into merciless brawls, and one didn't last long there without gaining some semblance of skill on the matter.

Xisheng's first strike was, naturally, a solid blow to the solar plexus, which doubled his target over immediately. This was followed up by a swift punch to the side of the head, with just enough force to push his opponent to the side. With his head now in position, a solid kick to the forehead snapped the man backwards and landed him flat on his back. In a more lethal combat Xisheng would have used an axe kick to crush his skull; but he was certainly not going to employ that technique a second time if it wasn't needed. He had never been too terribly comfortable with the first incident.

Glancing back at the remains of the brief scuffle, Xisheng saw that Mai had already taken care of his other target. Perhaps realizing that she too had not contributed much, the uncannily accurate marksman had methodically pinned her original target to the ground, entirely immobilizing him with a dozen knives nailed through various points on his clothing or gear. Acknowledging that they all could have been in veins or organs if she wished was objectively terrifying enough to offset the amusement of the Earthbender's situation.

The rest of their foes had likewise been dispatched by now, with Ty Lee really putting her opponents down once she saw that the scuffle was coming to a close and Azula having knocked out the last remaining man with a display of martial prowess that Xisheng had not borne witness to. In actuality the man Azula had faced just wasn't very good, but she chose to mark it up to talent rather than massive skill variance.

So in total Xisheng had only defeated one of their six foes, and honestly that kind of stung a little. Now more than ever he really hoped he could find time to learn some things from Ty Lee. Obviously Firebending would probably always be his main means of fighting, but it certainly couldn't hurt to know more martial skills. It obviously would have been useful in this situation.

Either way, the point had been made; the men that guarded the Beifong estate were no match for talented fighters. And 'surely' mercenaries of this caliber were fairly common, meaning Lao would have a serious issue on his hands when those equally talented brigands came his way.

Of course, there would be no other mercenaries coming after his daughter, and the adversaries that showed up at his door step would be nothing other than a bunch of kids. In that sense, this whole plan would have been ridiculous; what kind of idiot would ever believe that a trio of barely teen children were mercenaries, hunting an equally young child for coin? A very particular type of idiot, of course. A paranoid one that would place stock in any type of danger, no matter how asinine.

The kind of paranoid idiot that was so afraid of everything that he locked his own daughter away from the world to keep her safe.

Naturally Azula had not been aware of that particular fact at the time she had formulated her plan, but then again, the initial purpose had just been reaching the target before the Avatar. Her allies had probably believed that she had a fool-proof plan from start to finish, but the reality was that plans hardly came into being that way; they were usually constructed one step at a time. Azula had reached her first goal without a hitch, and thanks to it had learned information that would aid in the second phase. Fortune had done half the work for her.

Not that she would admit that to anyone.

As equally stunned with the performance of these strangers as he was appalled by that of his men, Lao nevertheless tried to hide the latter, doing hid best to appear pleased rather than disgruntled with the results.

"Well... I must say, your looks are truly deceiving. I would never have guessed that a group of... individuals such as yourself would be so skilled."

It was obvious from the hesitation in his voice that Lao thought better of what he was initially going to say, though it wasn't like anyone was dumb enough to somehow miss the implication in the first place. He was either shocked that they were so competent being primarily female or because they were so young. Either was rather insulting, but at least he had tried to conceal the notion.

Azula couldn't quite find it in herself to be irritated at the moment anyway, since things were proceeding so very smoothly. "Why thank you, Master Beifong. I hope this proves my point in regards to a little extra help protecting your daughter. No offense to your men, but they do seem to be a bit out of practice. The mercenaries that will come after your daughter have spent most of their lives fighting, so I believe the odds are obvious."

It was clear by the tone of her voice that Azula had long since dropped the charade of subservience. It was no longer necessary, seeing as how she had planted all of the seeds required to checkmate her opponent. Lao was of the mind that his daughter would soon be assaulted by enemies of sufficient skill. He was also convinced that his own guards were insufficient in protecting her against said enemies. He had no choice now but to do exactly what Azula wanted, unless he was willing to risk the entirely fictional yet potential danger to his daughter.

And for his many flaws, Lao was at least a man that cared for his child. He had plenty of money to spare if it meant protecting her from danger. And while he was far too paranoid to blindly trust Azula and her band of competent fighters, he could do the apparent math. If they were this skilled, and were only here to capture Toph, there would be no need for subterfuge of any sort. They could have easily plowed through his security and taken her by force. There was no need for any of this sneaking about, and they weren't wrong in their thinking: the Beifong family was the richest in this half of the Earth Kingdom. Lao could pay them far more for their services than whoever had hired them to attack Toph in the first place.

"As much as it worries me to see this level of incompetence from my men, I hope this is a result of your skill more than their faults. I won't lie; it pains me to rely on people of your profession for something as crucial as protecting my daughter, but your point has been made. If the others that come after Toph are as capable as you, I need your services. I suggest we return indoors to discuss your no doubt substantial fee."

Azula folded her arms behind her back, obviously pleased with herself, though for a reason Lao obviously misconstrued. "Don't look so glum, Master Beifong. Remember, you'll also be getting the identity of the man who ordered this contract. I believe that, along with our protection of your daughter, will be worth a fair sum, don't you?"

Unwilling to outright agree even though he very much did, Lao motioned to the men that were finally managing to get back to their feet after their rather embarrassing beat down. "Return the garden to how it was. And I suggest you all get some very much needed practice. Even with these youths on hand, I expect all of you to be vigilant; and preferably more useful against the next mercenaries than you were against these ones."

Utterly humiliated at this point, the six men that had been bested by a bunch of teenagers bowed deeply to their employer before getting to work on the garden, which fortunately for them had only been slightly damaged in the scuffle.

As Xisheng followed Lao back into the mansion alongside his other companions, he felt especially bad for them; while it was definitely their fault for not maintaining a greater level of proficiency in combat, it wasn't really fair to expect them to hold their own against the kind of opponents they had faced today. After all, they had probably spent the last couple of years standing guard around a girl that had to at least pretend to be blind and helpless.

Halfway back to the room in which they had first met Lao Beifong, Azula rose her voice to make a rather important statement. "Master Beifong, if I may be so bold, but I think it would be best if you directed my comrades to your daughter as quickly as possible. We needn't all be present to discuss monetary affairs."

For some reason Lao seemed to find this notion preposterous, as evidenced by the arch of his brow. "That seems wholly unnecessary. What need is there to begin your watch before the terms are even set?"

Azula returned his look perfectly, though hers was questioning his intelligence. "We arrived this early in the morning, did we not?"

Unable to miss the implication of that sentence, Lao reluctantly conceded. "Very well. When we get back I'll have one of my men escort your comrades. To think, I was worried about Master Yu increasing his fee last night..."

The rest of the trip back to the estate's reception room only took a few minutes, and upon arrival, they found that no escort to the daughter in question would be required. After all, the diminutive blind girl was currently in the room, sporting the most displeased grimace Xisheng had ever seen on anyone as she was unwillingly coddled in her mother's lap. Apparently Poppy felt that now was the best time to pointlessly fret over her daughter's safety.

Considering how capable she had proven herself to be during Earth Rumble VI, Xisheng could understand why being treated in such a manner would be infuriating.

He got the feeling she wasn't overly fond of the stuffy appearance forced upon her by her parents either, if the aesthetic she chose to take in the ring was any indication. Truth be told though Xisheng could level with the girl there. The white and beige silks she was wearing might have been comfortable if only they weren't bound so tight around her body. Regardless of the sightless nature of her eyes, it was still all too easy to see the malcontent in them. It was no wonder she led a double life of combat and glory. Any sane person would go mad if left to this situation.

Seeing that there was no need to direct his new and hopefully brief employees, Lao simply led Azula away to a different room after briefly informing his wife of the new situation, not wanting to concern her or his daughter with monetary affairs. In truth, perhaps he just didn't want Toph to hear him haggling over how much her safety was worth.

Either way, Azula didn't bother telling her compatriots to stay, since it was already obvious that they should. Unfortunately, this left said compatriots in a rather awkward situation, since they were now alone in the room with only their soon to be charge and her mother. It was obvious that neither Ty Lee nor Mai quite knew what to do with their current personas, but Xisheng had done enough soldiering to know what his role would normally be in this situation. In fact, now that he thought about it, he could have a pretty decent career in mercenary work if he wanted to. But, he was much too driven by loyalty and honor and whatnot to really consider that. Besides, all things considered, he much preferred the company he had now compared to whatever theoretical group he could work with elsewhere.

Either way, he did exactly what he would have done in any other scenario that involved guarding an individual in a room; he watched the door. More accurately, he positioned himself in a place that allowed him to see every potential entryway into the room, at least in his peripheral. Mai caught on to what he was doing quickly, wasting no time in pretending to watch those same entryways, but Ty Lee was utterly clueless, simply standing around with her usual smile on her face. Even Poppy found it to be a little odd.

In fact, despite her own lack of uncanny wit, Toph's mother felt the awkward tension in the air and sought to rectify it. Unfortunately, the way she went about doing that was awkward simply because of the tone of voice she addressed her daughter with. For some reason, Xisheng found it a more fitting way to address a pet than your child.

"Toph, these er, 'kind' people are here to keep you safe. I'm sure they're very talented and capable, so you have nothing to worry about. I'm sure this strapping young man can handle anyone that would try to hurt you."

Toph cocked an eyebrow, maybe questioning why Xisheng had been singled out in particular, and it was clear that Ty Lee felt the same way, though why she felt the need to speak was beyond Xisheng or Mai. "Um, what about us? We're really good too y'know!"

Poppy gave Ty Lee a disbelieving once over before returning her gaze to her daughter. "Yes, I'm sure you are. Anyway, as I was saying..."

Being completely disregarded was practically number one on Ty Lee's list of awful, terrible things, but she at least had the wits about her to not go off on some sort of tirade against the wife of the household. It didn't stop her from fuming of course, but Poppy didn't seem to notice that either.

Poppy continuing rambling about all the terrible dangers her darling daughter needed to be protected from, managing to go on for a good sixty seconds before someone stopped her. Surprisingly, it was her own daughter who did so. More surprisingly than that was how dainty she managed to sound while doing it.

"Mother, I need to relieve myself. May I be excused?"

Something about the notion of having to ask for that struck the Fire Nation natives as strange, but since Poppy didn't react in any untoward way, this must have been what she typically expected.

"Of course dear; I suppose one of the ladies will have to do. Maybe both should go, to make up for-"

"I want the 'strapping young man' to escort me. You said he could handle anyone!"

To anyone that wasn't a complete idiot, it was obvious that Toph was having a ball with the way her mother reacted. How she could tell Poppy looked aghast was beyond Xisheng, but maybe she didn't even have to perceive it. Maybe she just knew.

And yet, aghast or not, Poppy still submitted to her daughter's wishes, much to the surprise of everyone else. The older woman gave Xisheng a severe gaze that was a symbol of affirmation, but also a threat of some sort. Xisheng for one was outright offended at what she was worried about, but also a little amused; even if he did commit some heinous crime, what could she do about it? Send her incompetent men to inflict punishment? It was obvious how that would go already.

Either way, Xisheng knew that Toph was completely joking about this matter. He didn't know how anyone could misinterpret the tone of her voice, seeing as how it sounded like she was struggling to contain a laugh even now. Granted, the shock on Poppy's face had been rather funny.

All things considered, Xisheng decided it would be best to just play along. If Poppy were truly so worried regarding his integrity she could send some of those aforementioned incompetents along.

"I will do my utmost to see the lady to her destination. I'm willing to give my life for this noble cause."

Toph snickered, perhaps realizing that Xisheng was on the same page as her. Unfortunately even Ty Lee and Mai gave him wary looks, but honestly he didn't think they were genuinely concerned. He was fairly certain he had established himself as a respectable enough individual.

The girl in need of a break rose from her mother's lap, offering a hand to her soon to be escort. She was 'blind' after all, so this was probably how she had to pretend to act around her parents. Assuming this was still part of her personal amusement, Xisheng nevertheless did what was expected of him, allowing Toph to lead him out of the room at a clearly faked slow pace.

The moment they were out of Poppy's sight, the young girl began moving at a pace fitting of any normal person, though she didn't let go of Xisheng's hand for some reason. If he had to hazard a guess, Xisheng would say that maybe she was trying to figure out what he looked like. She was obviously blind, but she clearly still saw the world around her in some way. Being an Earthbender he would guess it had something to do with vibrations or some such, but if that were true he never would have guessed that such a method could be so effective.

It occurred to Xisheng as they walked that he had to act as though he had never seen Toph before, lest he come off as suspicious. He knew she wasn't helpless or even truly blind, but he had to pretend he didn't. It put a bad taste in his mouth though, since it felt kind of insulting to treat a capable fighter like that.

Thankfully, he wasn't completely inept at word-crafting, as Azula had pointed out more than once already.

"Your knowledge of this estate must be flawless, to move about it so quickly."

Toph snorted in what sounded like derision, as much as such noises could be interpreted. "You can cut the crap y'know. You know who I am already, and you know I'm not blind; well, not like, really blind. You know what I mean."

For a brief moment, Xisheng panicked, wondering if he were about to get into a fight with who was probably the most skilled Earthbender he had ever seen. But Toph kept walking to her destination unperturbed, and she didn't seem any more aggressive than she had sixty seconds ago. She'd simply stated facts.

And facts they were, because it was definitely the truth, but now it was a matter of how she knew. Perhaps it was as simple as Azula had claimed it to be; a girl of her talent couldn't be a total simpleton. No prodigy was an outright idiot.

Deciding to play it safe nevertheless, Xisheng returned to a state of normalcy. He was pretty good at keeping calm when the need truly arose.

"How do you figure?"

Toph led her completely unnecessary escort around a corner, still latching onto his hand. "There's one guy in all of Gaoling outside of this estate that knows who I am outside of the Blind Bandit thing, and that's Xin Fu. If you know him, you've probably seen me in action at least once. I doubt you showed up at my doorstep actually thinking I was a helpless little blind girl."

Xisheng resisted the urge to breathe a sigh of relief. The only thing Toph had managed to deduce was their cover, and not even the fact that it was a cover. Everything was still safe for now.

"Fair enough. I guess that was pretty obvious."

"Yeah, but you know what's not? Why he sent you guys at all. The heck could Xin Fu possibly get out of placing a hit on me? I mean, I'm the one who makes all of his money! People show up at those fights for me! Ungrateful blockhead..."

For some reason, the word 'blockhead' reminded Xisheng that he was conversing with a twelve year old more than anything else, including her height or her voice. And considering his partner's age, he wondered how well it would go over if he simply kept silent regarding the details of their presence here. Azula had more or less ordered him to stay quiet, but this situation was pretty unavoidable. Moreover, would Toph even accept silence as an answer? Kids weren't known for being the most reasonable human beings around, and this kid in particular could actually do something about it if she were unhappy.

He figured the best thing to do was to just reinforce their cover as innocently as possible.

"He thinks you conned him out of the night's winnings with that kid that challenged you during the tournament."

Toph arched an eyebrow at nothing in particular. "That sounds really dumb. For one, I'm rich already. Two, I don't know who that cheater during the tournament was, but as much as I hate to admit it he knocked me out of the ring against my will. Not with Earthbending of course. Whatever he did was definitely cheating. If it weren't for the rules I would have shoved that stupid hat up his butt..."

Unsure of how to respond to that, Xisheng simply didn't, giving Toph ample time to continue.

"That said, I don't understand why he sent all of you. No offense, but there's no way you can take me in a fight."

Seeing as how the girl had probably not witnessed their fight against the guards, however she would have gone about that, Xisheng decided not to take offense. Part of that may have been because he didn't necessarily know if she were wrong about that. Having seen her in action, he didn't know if they could actually take her down in an all our brawl.

Not that he had no confidence whatsoever. There were four of them after all, and Azula was this girl's equal at the very least when it came to raw bending prowess. On top of that, if her means of sight really did work through the earth somehow, it was possible that Mai's projectiles could be all but invisible to the girl.

Either way, if all went according to plan, they wouldn't come to blows with Toph.

"That's a rather unfair statement considering that you don't know what we're capable of in the least."

Toph merely smirked at his reply. "I don't have to. Nobody can beat me."

At this, Xisheng smirked back. "That kid beat you."

The young Earthbender's grin reversed immediately. "Alright wiseguy, don't get too cheeky. I could bury you in one of these walls and no one would ever know."

"I think someone would manage to connect the dots. And I think it might make my companions unhappy? They might try to avenge me. I hope..."

"Even blind, I can see that you aren't sure of that. Guess being the only dude in a troop of harpies isn't all it's cracked up to be, huh?"

"I'd hardly call them harpies; witches, at the most."

Toph giggled, glad to find that this stranger that would apparently be hanging around her for a while had a sense of humor. Truth be told she had been a little sour of the idea of having even more guards stalking her than usual, but the distaste had faded with the realization that these ones would probably know what she could actually do, and would treat her as she deserved.

Of course, knowledge of that led Xisheng to ask a particular question. "Seeing as how you don't have to maintain appearances without your mother here to see it, why are you still holding my hand?"

Toph pretended to be offended. "What, shouldn't you be happy? I'm not just any girl you know, I'm both a lady and a strong warrior. How many girls can say that?"

Xisheng quelled the desire to mention that all of the girls in his party were exactly those two things, though Toph misinterpreted his silence as awe or something and continued with her explanation.

"Anyway, you obviously know by now that I'm not totally blind. I mean, I am as far as my eyes are concerned, but I can still sorta see stuff. Unless you're a complete moron you've probably figured that already."

"Based on your performance in the tournament, I assumed it had something to do with Earthbending."

"Kinda. Technically it's just vibrations traveling through stuff, and my Earthbending ability makes it easier for me to use them to my advantage. I guess if you wanted to be exact I'm not actually using my Earthbending to see, it's just a bonus of being an Earthbender. Even chumps like The Boulder could do it if they put some effort into it."

Xisheng wondered how many Earthbenders ever actually employed a technique such as this. Considering the general consensus that bending was only good for combat, and that most Earthbenders probably weren't blind, he imagined that it wasn't a lot. It was a shame really, how rare techniques like this were; with the ability to manipulate the elements, there were so many things humanity could achieve, yet all they ever managed was the invention of new ways to kill things. He would have said the Fire Nation was different, but as things stood now, even their many new innovations for non-combat Firebending still existed for the ultimate purpose of combat.

To be fair, it was wartime though. Once this conflict was finally won the benders of the world could turn their attention to developing more useful techniques for their arts.

"That's extremely fascinating, but... none of it really answered my question."

Toph shrugged, leading Xisheng around another corner. "I'm just trying to figure out what you look like. Or what you're shaped like, I guess. Normally I could do that without touching you since you're walking so close, but I'm wearing shoes. Holding onto you gives me a different way to read all those vibrations going through your body whenever you take a step."

Fascinated, Xisheng couldn't help but ask for more information. "Really? So... how much can you determine like this?"

"Just basic stuff. Jawlines, cheekbones, the size of your forehead; just the overall shape of your face really. Gotta say, you aren't as rugged as I was expecting."

"Is that so?"

"Just saying, you're the only guy in a group of girls. I figured you'd be all brawn and a square chin or something. Like The Boulder. Uh, no offense."

Seeing as how The Boulder had actually been a pretty skilled fighter, Xisheng didn't feel slighted anyway. Meanwhile, Toph had finally reached whatever her destination was, which just seemed to be a solid wooden door in some hallway in the back of the estate.

"So what is this?"

The girl he was 'escorting' turned slightly in his direction, with an expression that questioned his intellect. "What, didn't you hear me earlier? It's the bathroom."

"Oh, I uh... thought that was just an excuse to get away from your mother..."

"Don't be ridiculous. I never lie about serious business."

With that, the young girl finally detached herself from her escort and retreated into the room she had come to visit. As for Xisheng, he felt so terribly awkward that it came full circle and simply let him accept the situation. With little choice in the matter, he leaned against the wall next to the door and stood guard. Wasn't like he didn't have experience in that.

* * *

Knowing full well that her mother would assume the worst if she were out of her sight for more than ten minutes, Toph quickly finished her business and returned to the woman's side. Not to really placate her specifically, but more because she didn't want to deal with any of the fallout if Poppy freaked out. By the time the unlikely duo made it back, Azula had already finished her business with Lao, and the two of them had returned to the room. The family's patriarch was in the midst of a conversation with his wife at the moment Xisheng and Toph returned, with the latter once again pretending to be helpless.

"-a man named Xin Fu! Some sort of criminal that runs a fighting ring. I'm heading into the city right away to issue a warrant for his arrest!"

Xisheng noticed an alarmed expression from Toph, perhaps because she had realized that questions would be asked if Xin Fu were caught. Namely, how he knew about Toph at all. And even though the two of them had more or less been business partners of a sort, she doubted Xin Fu would do her any favors in keeping her identity a secret from her parents.

Personally Xisheng couldn't see what she was worried about. Realistically the chains that bound Toph were completely of her own making. She was obviously strong enough to do whatever she wanted, there was no way her parents could really detain her in this estate. Then again, maybe children held greater respect for their parents in the Earth Kingdom. Ironically, even though the Fire Nation placed supreme value on loyalty, they also taught their children to never let anyone hold them back from reaching their full potential: a set of values that could easily come into opposition with one another.

As for Poppy, she seemed stricken by the prospect. "Are you sure Lao? Will the guard even do anything?"

Xisheng was honestly surprised that someone of Poppy's nature was even aware of the corruption in her own city. She had a point; the city guard was so lax in its punishment of mercenary work that said mercenaries had their own hub, and the building itself had signs that led to it. Granted not all mercenary contracts were immoral or illegal, but the soldiers that policed the city sure didn't make much effort to root out the ones that were.

Lao on the other hand must have figured that the best way to get things done was to take advantage of that corruption. "They'll do it for enough money. You know how those leeches are, they won't even care who he is if I pay them enough."

There was a look on Azula's face that said she was appalled by the notion of justice being meted out based on funding, but Xisheng got the feeling that she had a somewhat biased view of things. The Fire Nation may have been superior to its counterparts in many ways, but it was not without corruption of its own. There was generally a higher level of integrity among its troops, but a big part of that was because more was expected of them. The Fire Nation military was more unforgiving than the Earth Kingdom's in many ways. Looting was ruthlessly punished. Coercion of the public would almost always result in a court martial, or worse. Deserters were struck down with worth equal to that of the enemy or outright traitors. The men and women of the Fire Nation military behaved, and not because they were all perfect soldiers.

Yet corruption still existed in their ranks to some extent. More then a few Fire Nation soldiers had taken advantage of occupied towns or prisoners, in ways that brought shame to their nation. Such thugs and lowlifes were often swiftly dealt with, but that didn't erase the mark they left on their country's honor.

Regardless of who was in charge of the world, Xisheng doubted such things would ever change. Still, that didn't mean it wasn't a cause worth fighting for.

Understandably furious, though for reasons that could have been disputed, Lao was quick to assemble an entourage of his men, though for some reason it ended up being almost all of his available guards. Considering the fictional threat he nevertheless believed was coming for his daughter, Xisheng figured that the man would have left more of his meager security with her. Apparently Poppy thought the same thing, as she wasted no time voicing as much.

"Lao, should you really take such a large portion of your men? If Toph is attacked while you're away..."

"All things considered, it seems our new employees are rather close to the worth of the men I'm taking with me. I'm at least paying them enough to be, that's for certain."

Not completely sure of things, Poppy eyed their newest acquaintances. She really didn't like the look of their leader. "Do you trust them so easily Lao...? While you and your men are away..."

Catching onto her meaning, Lao sought to placate his wife. "I'm not a complete fool dear. These mercenaries aren't being paid in advance. Until the situation is rectified they will not see a single piece of gold. Besides, I'm not taking all of my men with me, Yan and Purut will stay here."

Even Ty Lee could do the math here, noting that the two men Lao was leaving behind wouldn't be able to really prevent them from doing anything, considering how they had easily trounced six earlier. Perhaps the man had faith in the money involved; as far as he was concerned, Azula and her troop wouldn't settle for the sum their contract on Toph provided when they could serve his needs and get paid triple. That was hardly an objective guarantee, but for Lao, money had never really let him down in life. In his experience, people always followed the path that provided them with the most money.

He had yet to meet anyone that didn't value money enough to dictate their decisions, which was, ironically, exactly what Azula's entire group was. Obviously Azula and Mai had been born into enough money to have no need to pursue it. Ty Lee just flat out didn't care. And of course Xisheng's greatest value was loyalty to his comrades and country.

But they could pass for money-grubbing lackeys apparently, which was enough for Lao to make an objectively ridiculous decision in leaving his daughter almost entirely in their care. On that note, Azula decided there was no reason to let things stay only partially in their favor.

"While I'm confident in my troop's ability to protect your daughter Master Beifong, I don't know if the four of us, plus your two guards, will be enough to defend both her and your wife."

Lao looked confused about this statement, which Azula found pathetic.

"My wife? What danger could she be in?"

"Well, obviously any mercenaries that come for your daughter already have no qualms about making a move against your family. If my allies and I are able to prevent them from taking your daughter, who is to say they won't try to take your wife hostage as a backup plan? And as I said, we are capable but few. We might not be able to keep both of them safe simultaneously. It's just a potential risk though, there's no guarantee such a thing will occur."

As the expression on Lao face took on a strange mix of abject fear and contemplation, Xisheng tried to decipher the Princess' angle. He couldn't really see a reason to get both parents out of the picture; their plan was to ingratiate themselves with said parents (and Toph) just enough to come out on top in a contest of trustworthiness when the Avatar eventually showed up. They were missing good opportunities to do that by getting rid of witnesses.

Unless of course, a lack of witnesses was exactly what Azula wanted. If she were certain the Avatar would show up eventually, it was quite possible the ultimate plan was just to kill him here. After all, why not? He would be walking right into a trap basically, even if it was a basic one. And if they failed to defeat the Avatar, her backup plan could just be to kill Toph and deprive the Avatar of a powerful teacher and ally.

Then again, why bother with all of this then? Quite frankly the presence of Toph's parents and these half-assed guards wouldn't stop them from making a lethal move if that were the plan. Theoretically they could just kill them all, especially if they were going to go all out and use their Firebending.

Not that Xisheng was in favor of this plan of course. While he could acknowledge it as a tactically adept move, he couldn't condone killing innocents in such a manner. He could only kill combatants in good conscience.

But he was jumping to conclusions, and even now he already knew better than to try and speak for Azula's planning. He could theorize, but there was never any way to be sure.

Either way, whatever her apparent goal was in getting Poppy away from them, Azula appeared to have succeeded in it, since Lao was quick to make a suggestion. "While she said herself that it was only a possibility, I believe our young entrepreneur may have a point, Poppy. I think it would be best if you came with me to the guardhouse. If we do that we'll have a roughly equal amount of protection."

"In that case, why not just bring Toph with us? If we all go together-"

While this was definitely the safest course of action objectively speaking, Lao cut his wife off immediately. "You know we can't do that! Knowledge of Toph's existence is what caused this situation in the first place. Besides, to reveal her now would lead to a massive scandal, who knows what the people of the city would think, knowing we kept her secret all these years?"

Based on the angry expression on her face, Xisheng could tell their false charge had something she really wished to say about that. Yet, for some reason she held her tongue. The Fire Nation trooper just couldn't understand why she wouldn't reveal her prowess. He supposed there could have been some sort of abnormal factor; maybe Lao had lost someone close to him from Earthbending or something. But considering that some of his guards were Earthbenders, he didn't seem to have a qualm with the art in and of itself. Still, Xisheng was running out of excuses he could think up in Toph's favor.

Lao wasn't entirely without a point though, twisted as it was. It was unlikely that any society would smile upon the steps required to keep a child secret for over a decade. While it may not have been technically illegal, especially since Toph seemed well-treated for sure, but it still basically amounted to imprisonment.

Apparently Poppy saw the point her husband was getting at, because she ultimately agreed, though not without concession. "Then leave some more of your men behind with Toph. I'm sorry, but it just doesn't seem prudent to leave her alone with complete strangers. We don't even know their names!"

Strangely enough, Poppy had a point there. No one had bothered to ask them their names so far. Perhaps Lao didn't think it mattered, since they basically amounted to hired help.

"Fine, Uho and Jagi, you two will stay here as well. I don't foresee any problems, but stay on your guard."

Content that he had satisfied his wife's concerns, and for some reason having misguided confidence in a group of teenagers he had just hired not an hour ago, Lao decided that everything was going according to some sort of plan, and in a moment he and his wife were making their exit in order to pay off the city police force.

This left Toph with a total of eight guards, though she had reached the same conclusion as her Fire Nation counterparts already. Theoretically speaking, the four trusted protectors her parents had left behind would be less than useless if her new guards actually wanted to do anything bad. Or at least, that was definitely the feeling she got from the way her mother had spoken. She hadn't actually witnessed the sparring match they had against her usual unwanted retinue. Which was kind of sad, since she was interested in seeing just how good they were. Part of being an amazing fighter included always wanting to know how strong other warriors were.

Which made it unfortunate that the room was now occupied by four of her parent's guards, since Toph wouldn't be able to hold a halfway honest conversation with her new ones while being forced to act. Thankfully, being waited on hand and foot did have some benefits. It was actually quite easy to get rid of her father's men when their presence was irritating her.

"It's so scary to think that bad guys are out to get me. Especially since no one is watching the gate right now. The bad people could climb right over the wall and no one would know!"

Toph's usual guards exchanged looks of uncertainty, but didn't seem like they were going to actually act. Fortunately for the young fighter, Xisheng caught on to what she was trying to do.

"She has a point. With all of your comrades protecting your master, there's no one to man the perimeter. It really isn't prudent to let intruders past the first line of defense so easily."

One of the younger men, Jagi perhaps, frowned at the implication. "Master Beifong instructed us to protect Toph. We aren't leaving this room."

Xisheng folded his arms in disdain. "Don't any of you have some tactical sense? It's better to have multiple lines of somewhat equal defense than one large final line."

While it was impossible to guess why Mai would be even remotely invested in the conversation, she offered valuable input to the cause anyway. "This room has multiple points of entry, but there's no point in having two people watching each one. It's better to have more choke points we can use to identify the enemy and alert the rear defenders. That way some of the defenders have time to prepare for action, rather than all of us getting jumped simultaneously."

Surprised by the tactical truth more than any of the others, Xisheng gave the girl a questioning glance, curious as to where she learned such strategy. It was basic tactics of course, but still something that most people needed slight amounts of experience to know. Unfortunately for his curiosity, all Mai did was shrug, apparently considering the knowledge common sense.

Meanwhile, the same guard as before objected. "In that case, it only makes sense for all of you to assume outer positions."

This time it was Azula who countered. "Don't be ridiculous. You can't build an entire defense around the final line, but that final line still needs to be the strongest one. There aren't enough of you to patrol the entire area anyway, so if the enemy slips by undetected the strongest fighters will still be congregated here. This is simple logic, of which all of you seem to be lacking."

Another one of the guards spoke up in outrage. "How dare you! We're not pushovers and we're not fools! We have far more experience than all of you brats!"

Azula's hands went to her hips. "As evidenced by your stellar six to four victory against us, right?"

The man that had spoken up glanced at the floor. "W-well, I wasn't one of the six..."

"Then by all means, try us. But that does seem like a waste of valuable time, which you could be using to patrol the outer perimeter. Don't you agree?"

In its own way, Azula's means of coercion and intimidation against physically larger and older men was kind of hilarious. On the other hand, it was frightening, because it didn't look like Lao's men had anything to say back to her. This was kind of pathetic on their part though, since they didn't even really know what Azula was capable of.

Granted, she was plenty frightening without that knowledge.

Still, they at least had the guts to ask what Toph wanted them to do. Technically she was allowed to order them around.

Unfortunately for them, she was voicing her decision before any of them could even ask.

"I think I'd feel safer with someone watching outside, but I want to have strong people to protect me too."

The by now unofficial spokesperson of Lao's guards knelt down beside Toph. "I understand that, but don't you want at least one of us to stay here with you?"

Even Xisheng could feel the sting of her lack of hesitation. "Nope. Like she said, the strongest need to be the final line of defense."

One of the men that had yet to speak finally found reason to do so. "Alright, I won't dispute that these thugs are better fighters, but how can they be trusted?! We don't know anything about them, even their names! We can't just leave Master Beifong's daughter alone with them, they came here for her in the first place!"

With a sigh of frustration, Azula folded her arms. "Your master left us here alone with your daughter, with only four men he already knew we could best to keep watch. Do you know why that is?"

The black bearded guard that had spoken naturally did not have the right answer. "N-no?"

"Tell me, what is the career of myself and my comrades?"

"Y-you're mercenaries..."

"Yes, and what is it that mercenaries do?"

The man racked his brain for a moment to come up with a the most exact answer. "They... take on various kinds of work for money, I guess."

Clearly in the midst of thinking this man was an idiot, Azula continued. "Very good. Now, use your brain for this next one. The man that paid us to capture your charge runs an underground fighting ring, where the vast majority of his funds comes from bets and gambling. The man that paid us to protect your charge is the patriarch of one of the Earth Kingdom's richest families. Which one do you think is paying us more to follow their wishes?"

With the answer too painfully obvious to bother saying, the suitably whipped man ceased his petty resistance, and one of the guards who hadn't been treated like a moron conceded as well. "We'll begin patrolling the estate... b-but mark my words, if anything happens to Toph you'll have all of the Gaoling guard hunting you down!"

Naturally this threat scored no purchase with the Princess of the Fire Nation. "Yet another reason we wouldn't do anything in the first place."

Probably tired of being mocked to the ends of the earth, the four men Lao had left behind simply to placate his wife made a hasty exit, not really comfortable with the situation but more or less trusting in the greed of their new allies. It was ironic, as Azula herself considered greed to be a very good indicator of potential loyalty, but they were obviously not here for the money.

Toph on the other hand, immediately dropped her facade the moment she could no longer sense her father's men, loosing an impressed whistle. "Wow, you are one seriously harsh girl. You win fights just by insulting people? Because honestly I could believe it."

Altogether pleased with the outcome of the current scenario, Azula smirked. "Don't be ridiculous. Breaking their spirit is only half of the battle. The fun part, naturally."

Having been quiet due to a lack of familiarity with her supposed position as a mercenary, Ty Lee nevertheless spoke up now. She really couldn't help it. "That's really, really not something to be proud of you know."

Toph snorted, having completely shed the persona of a noble girl. "Well, guess we know which one of you is the party pooper. You're the boring self-righteous one right?"

Because they all knew who the real square usually was, the Fire Nation group got a kick out of it, sans Ty Lee of course. "Excuse me?! I am the most fun, cheerful, and energetic person you will ever meet! My profession is cheer! I do fun and games for breakfast!"

Xisheng found it amusing that Ty Lee took such a comment to such a deep personal level, but nevertheless rose to defend her. "To be honest, she _is_ the fun one in this dynamic. There's no question about that."

Perhaps in a slightly joking mood due to the situation, Mai countered. "I'll remember you said that later."

'Watching' this strange group of four interact with each other, Toph smiled. Outside of her family and their employees, and the people she fought in the ring of course, she'd never spoken at length with anyone. She was pleased to find that her new acquaintances seemed to be a lot of fun.

"So I know I've only known you guys for like, an hour, but somehow you're still better than the people I've been around my whole life. Though now that literally everyone has mentioned it, what are your names anyway?"

There was a brief moment of silence in which the Fire Nation natives briefly exchanged glances, wondering what they were supposed to say. Of all the details they had somewhat ironed out before this, false names weren't one of them. Then again, the only one of them that had enough knowledge of Earth Kingdom culture to even think of appropriate names would have been Ty Lee.

Thankfully, Azula had a quick cover, and one that didn't raise too many questions. "Our names are need to know. Safety precaution, you see."

Toph cocked an eyebrow in her general direction, not buying it right away. "Safety from what?"

"Not all guild activities are legal, mind you. Keeping our names to ourselves is a great way to ensure no client turns us in later for a reward. Granted, this job is legal, but the means through which we landed it is not. Surely you understand."

While the youngest among the five furrowed her brow for a moment, eventually she shrugged, not taking the secrecy personally. Besides, as far as she could discern, Azula had told the truth. And Toph knew from personal experience that she was pretty good at telling that.

"Well gee, thanks for trusting me."

"No hard feelings."

It almost looked like she was about to agree, but in the end Toph didn't. "Actually, there are some hard feelings. Did you have to tell my dad about Xin Fu? That guy won't keep his mouth shut. Heck, dad will probably ask how he knew about me in the first place! A little consideration would have been nice."

Azula shrugged, not at all bothered by such things. "There really was no choice, but part of our new deal was revealing the identity of the one who placed a contract on you. Besides, it's your fault for being so weak in the first place."

Naturally, Toph didn't take this comment very well. "Excuse me?! Weak? I could bury all of you in a heartbeat, who do you think you are?!"

Aware that they were indeed surrounded by stone, Xisheng attempted to placate the young Earthbender. He didn't know how malicious she could be, but she did seem to be quite brash. "I don't think she means as a fighter. We watched you at the tournament, you're obviously a powerful bender. But, that being the case, why put up with this act you clearly despise? There's nothing your parents can really do to stop you from doing what you want."

"Well, that's true, but... I mean what am I supposed to do, threaten them into treating me right? They're my parents!"

Azula was the first to jump on this. "But of course, what's wrong with that? They're holding you back from your full potential, which is downright criminal in my book. You're nowhere near as good as you could be and it's all their fault. You have every right to be furious."

Toph leveled a somewhat astonished expression in Azula's direction. "Wow, so we know who the lame one is and who the scary one is. Anything you two want to reveal?"

She was obviously speaking to Xisheng and Mai, the two she had not yet labeled. Naturally, Mai shrugged. "I can be the fun one if you consider stabbing things with knives fun."

By now Mai allies knew how to read her jokes, but considering the deadpan nature of their delivery, a stranger like Toph naturally did not. "OK... two scary ones, I suppose...please tell me you're kinda normal?"

Having tilted her head towards Xisheng, he decided to give her some semblance of comfort. "Of course. Just call me the last sane man in an insane world."

"I'd buy it. Seriously, why even subject yourself to this kind of torture?"

While slightly worried that he may pay for it later, Xisheng smirked. "Oh it's hell in some ways, but c'mon now; I have the company of three attractive women all to myself, it has its perks."

While young, Toph wasn't naive enough to miss the implication. Probably had something to do with all of interaction with unsavory thugs in underground fighting rings.

"Oh, so that's how it is? Someone's lucky."

Xisheng almost continued, but he noticed that both Mai and Azula were glaring daggers at him. Naturally Ty Lee had no qualms with the suggestiveness of the message. Still, Xisheng was feeling in a relatively lucky mood since no one could outright kill him here, so he decided to flip and go the opposite way.

"I was just kidding. Those two are actually horrible and I would never dream of it."

He obviously didn't include Ty Lee in the setup since she was generally good to him, but of course his words earned even more heated glares from his other two companions. Xisheng simply shrugged back to them.

"You can only be mad about one or the other you know."

Toph released a short laugh that said she believed otherwise. "Don't be ridiculous; they're women, of course they can be mad about both."

With two out of three of Xisheng's companions suitably irritated, it was up to Ty Lee to offer any sort of response. " _You're_ a woman too, though."

"Actually, I'm just a girl. And a really tomboyish one at that. I'm reasonable and probably will be for the rest of my life."

This time it was Mai who seemed amused. "We'll see what puberty has to say about that."

Being the only person who hadn't experienced that so far, Toph stuck her tongue out in some sign of displeasure. "Ick, don't even. Let's just go back to talking about how strong I am, that was much more interesting."

More than willing for various reasons, Azula accepted her wish, though not in the way Toph would have liked. "Actually, I mentioned how strong you _could_ be. As you are now you aren't nearly as special as you think."

Naturally this led Toph to scowl again. "Seriously, you did see me at Earth Rumbe Six right? I'm the best Earthbender in the whole world!"

Azula just scoffed. "And you know this because you've fought a handful of incompetent foes that all hail from this one small corner of the world, I take it?"

"What's that got to do with anything?"

The princess of the Fire Nation held out her hands in a placating manner. "Don't mistake me, you're good. Very good. But do you honestly believe you're the only one of your class out there? A world at war is full of 'very good' warriors. It's also full of warriors with much more experience than you. You have undeniable skill, and obvious incredible potential; but you've hit a plateau. There's no room for you to improve here in Gaoling, none of the opponents you have the opportunity to face push you beyond the limit. Put aside your pride for a moment and answer this truthfully; how much has your skill improved since you began fighting?"

Xisheng and his comrades were honestly surprised to hear Azula giving such genuine advice to a total stranger, but Toph actually took said words seriously. Unfortunately the length of her silence was answer enough, prompting Azula to continue.

"My point exactly: you have no challenge here, no real test of skill. The Earthbenders you face regularly are mostly actors more than fighters, and they're all so grossly incompetent that you'd have to be an amateur yourself to lose to them. Which of course, begs the question: are you really that good, or are your enemies just that pathetic?"

Toph was speechless for a moment, unsure if she had ever heard such a withering speech, even from her parents. "Geez... I know I said earlier you were harsh, but this is outright soul-crushing. Do you practice this kind of stuff in the mirror or something?"

The princess in question donned her trademark smirk. "Only occasionally."

"Well then, since you've clearly got so much experience under your fancy belt, what am I supposed to do? There's no one else to fight but those buffoons in the ring."

"I said it once already didn't I? Your parents are holding you back. There are plenty of strong warriors to test your ability against in this world. Regardless of how good you might be, there are always dozens, even hundreds of fighters superior to you. And the only way to really surpass them is to actually fight them. Even if you lose, experience against those superior fighters is what makes you stronger. As things stand now, you will never surpass your current strength. Even worse, you'll never know what your true strength really is, because the only means you have of measuring it is trouncing those clowns you call Earthbenders in a mockery of combat."

The whole room was silent for a moment, reeling from the miniature tirade Azula had unleashed on a matter no one thought would personally interest her. That said, Xisheng felt that she was being a little presumptuous, seeing as how Azula herself had obviously never fought in true combat, sans their one scuffle with the Avatar. He supposed she could have trained with her father, the strongest Firebender in the world, but obviously at fourteen and having lived in the palace her whole life, Azula was quite short on experience herself.

Perhaps she was fully aware of the deficiency.

Either way, Toph ultimately released a sigh, maybe realizing that Azula wasn't wrong in most of her words. "Well... gotta say, getting this kind of heartfelt advice from a mercenary of all people wasn't exactly what I expected today."

Possibly realizing how long she had droned on, Azula looked mildly flustered, and maybe a little irritable because of it. "Don't take it personally. I just hate to see promising people waste their potential is all."

Where the conversation may have gone from there was anyone's guess, since it didn't get to go any farther. After all, one of Lao's men returned at exactly that moment, and he wasn't alone.

"Before you berate me for letting these people in, this boy showed undeniable proof that he's the Avatar!"

Xisheng felt his breath hitch as another potential battle made itself known, but Azula was all calm as she turned to face Jagi and the trio of shocked children that was the Avatar and his Water Tribe comrades.

"Hello there; what can we do for you today?"

* * *

 **So, truth be told, there's actually another reason this chapter took so long, in the sense that I really had to workshop it... like a lot. There was a lot that needed to happen, and very few logical ways in which to implement them.**

 **Case in point, I wanted there to be enough time before Aang and co. showed up for Toph to actually hold a conversation with our protagonists, but obviously she wouldn't be able to do that under the watchful eye of her parents or guards. But, what kind of parent would leave their child alone with relative strangers during the situation at hand? That was a big issue I had to come up with a logical answer for, and I'd like to think I did a fairly good job. Most obscenely wealthy people are of the mind that money can ensure anything, including loyalty. And in the case of mercenaries, that would generally be completely true.**

 **Also, if anyone thinks to mention it, no, I didn't forget Toph's secondary role as a lie detector, but you will note that (very carefully) no lies were actually told this chapter, and any remotely shady things were said by either Azula (who we all know is a 400 foot tall purple platypus bear) or Mai (who I 100% doubt would have a change in heart rate over lying).**

 **Finally, the good news is that this chapter was the most convoluted in where I wanted the story to go next, and now that it's out of the way, the next one should come around in a much shorter time frame (but don't quote me on that).**


	9. Aggressive Negotiations

**So it has been a long time. I've no excuse. The past half a year or so have just been really, really rough. I love to write these stories, but sometimes life just picks up to an extent where I don't have any free time to dedicate to them. Things have calmed down considerably, and hopefully that means an unintentional hiatus like this won't happen again, though I've learned not to promise such things with how unpredictable life can be.  
**

 **Regardless, I appreciate everyone's patience. I'm sorry this chapter won't be proportionally longer to match the long wait, but attempting such a thing would just set me back even further in the grand scheme of things. I'm glad to be back, I hope everyone is glad to have me back as well.**

* * *

If there was ever a testament to how little thought children put into dire situations, it was the speed at which Katara whipped a stream of water at Azula's face after the disguised Princess had greeted them. Granted, it was good reaction time all things considered, but the lack of situational awareness was still quite blatant.

Thankfully, Azula had expected just such a reaction from their guests, and had practically been leaning back to dodge the attack before Katara even committed to it. Of course, the Waterbender wasn't content to stop there, readying another liquid whip to lash out against her sworn enemy. By this time, most everyone else in the room was starting to react, namely Azula's allies and the Beifong guards, but before any of them could make a move to intervene a wall of stone was suddenly erected between the combatants. It conveniently blocked the view of the guards that had been beside the Avatar's group, though Xisheng imagined this had been the intent.

"Stop! Is this how the Avatar is welcomed into someone's home? You attack its other guests without warning?"

Lowering the stone barrier she had erected as subtly as possible in the presence of her guards, Toph couldn't really level a scathing glare all things considered, but she was remarkably good at sounding authoritative despite her small stature and age. She was probably hoping that the guards assumed one of Azula's crew had done the Earthbending.

As for the Avatar's group, Katara was certainly not swift in apologizing for her unprovoked assault. "Guests?! Do you have any idea who these people are?!"

"I know they didn't come in here and attack someone after being invited in! And at the moment, I know them far better than I know you!"

Katara looked as though she wanted to make a retort, but the Avatar swiftly stood in for her. "You're right to be mad, we're very sorry. My friend acted too rashly."

Naturally his female companion did not take this well at all. "Excuse me?!"

Mildly amused by her reaction, Toph nevertheless managed to keep a straight face, not to mention her noble act. "Well, at least someone in your retinue has manners."

She then focused her attention on the guards that had brought the new arrivals in. "You all should return to your posts."

After witnessing the aggression of the Waterbending girl they had let in, Lao's guards were naturally not too keen on this idea. "B-but Toph, these people just proved themselves dangerous! We can't just leave you with them!"

Catching on to what Toph was aiming for with little trouble, and condoning it as well, Azula chimed in. "Your master is right. For all we know this group is just a distraction. They could have more accomplices infiltrating the compound right now. Besides, rest assured that we can handle them better than you."

Seeing as how this argument was coming from someone they didn't really trust, one of the guards was quick to oppose the idea. "Didn't you hear us? This boy is the Avatar! If he is going to be trouble you can't handle him yourselves!"

In an effort to assure her guards, Toph angled her head in Aang's direction. "That's true. Avatar, are you going to cause trouble?"

The young Airbender smiled as cheekily as possible. "No, of course not! Right Katara?"

Naturally the girl in question had a very unfriendly expression in response, though she grit her teeth and agreed. "Right..."

Toph merely nodded before turning back to her men. "Well, there it is. The Avatar isn't going to cause trouble, so you guys can go back to your posts."

"But that's-!"

"Hey, my father will be very unhappy if he finds out you were so blatantly disrespectful! Get going!"

With little to no means of countering, Lao's guards ultimately gave in, bowing before making their exit from the room. The moment Toph could no longer sense them, she dropped the posh charade entirely.

"So good to see you again Twinkletoes. Gotta say, I didn't think you were the kind of guy to do Xin Fu's dirty work. Kinda pathetic really."

It was no surprise that the Avatar had no clue what Toph was talking about. "Huh? Who's Xin Fu?"

"C'mon, don't play dumb! You've obviously been in on this whole scam from the start! I guess being the Avatar explains how you beat me in the ring, but I never woulda thought the Avatar of all people would use his powers for something so sad."

This time it was Sokka who expressed his confusion. "Hold on, you're not making any sense here. What scam are we supposedly in on?"

Before anyone could answer that, Katara cut in, leveling an accusatory finger at Azula's retinue. "The more important question is what are they doing here?! What's a proud Earth Kingdom family like yours doing with the Fire Nation?!"

Toph would have cocked an eyebrow at 'proud Earth Kingdom family' if only she wasn't more confused by the second accusation. "Fire Nation? Are you guys from there?"

She was obviously speaking to Azula's group, so it was the Princess who answered, swiftly and calmly. "Two of us are from the Fire Nation colonies to the west, but we share no more familiarity with them than that."

The young Earthbending prodigy frowned at this, mostly because she couldn't help but be confused. As far as she could tell, the Avatar and his friends weren't lying. But as best as she could discern Azula was telling the truth as well. She'd never encountered this kind of situation before. Even so, she was more obligated to trust those she knew a little better over these new arrivals, even if one of them was the Avatar.

"Well there you have it, they aren't from the Fire Nation. And even if they were, why would that matter?"

Katara's incredulity was immediately obvious. "Why would it matter? Is that supposed to be some kind of joke?!"

Knowing Katara's unrelenting penchant for pushing her point, Aang tried to intervene peacefully. "Calm down Katara, there's clearly some sort of misunderstanding here. All we have to do is clear it up."

The teenage Waterbender didn't seem too terribly fond of that idea, but in the end she didn't really have any alternative. So long as Toph was being deceived by these Ashmakers she would side with them. They had to reveal the truth first.

"Fine..."

Seeing that another fight would be avoided for now, Toph folded her arms. "Great. So, if you aren't here because of Xin Fu, why are you? What business does the Avatar have with the Beifong family? Actually, before we even do that, I don't trust the competence of Dad's men as much as I can throw them without my bending. Are you even the Avatar?"

Since that was easy enough to prove, Aang made a small show of creating a sphere of air and borrowed water from Katara's pouch. "I'm pretty sure I am."

Naturally Toph couldn't actually see the different elements being bent, since all she could tell was that it wasn't earth. For all she knew Aang could be bending just water or nothing at all. That being the case, she spoke out loud to Azula's group.

"So uh, I can't actually confirm that he's doing anything special..."

Seeing as how any lie about this wouldn't hold up for long, Xisheng figured the truth was their only option. "He's bending both air and water. He's the Avatar, no denying it."

Toph merely shrugged, seemingly unimpressed. "Great, so what do you want?"

A little put off by her lack of enthusiasm, Aang nevertheless kept his own. "Well you know, the Avatar has to master all four elements, so I need someone to teach me Earthbending. And I think it's supposed to be you! I had visions and stuff!"

"Wow, creepy. Why exactly am I supposed to agree?"

Sokka seemed confused by Toph's reaction. "What do you mean why? He's the Avatar! Teaching the Avatar is like, a huge honor or something right?"

"Is it? Just seems like unnecessary responsibility to me."

Katara's hands went to her hips. "Helping the Avatar save the world is not an 'unnecessary' responsibility! He's the only one who can stop the Fire Nation! Unless you're on their side, which seems likely since _they're_ here!"

"That again? They said they weren't from the Fire Nation. Why should I doubt 'em?"

"People can lie, you know!"

Toph smirked, proud in her abilities. "Not to me they can't. I can use my Earthbending to tell when people are lying."

Distinctly recalling all the flames that had come their way last time Azula's group had been encountered, Sokka was clearly incredulous. "Right..."

Having come to an impasse of sorts, Toph decided that she might as well make the situation somewhat more civilized. "Tell you what, why don't we deal with this over lunch? I'm hungry."

Naturally, Sokka agreed immediately. "Definitely, alright!"

No one else shared Sokka's enthusiasm, but there was no need to disagree with the sentiment either. Things were remarkably civil at this exact moment anyway. That said, Toph would have to go find some of the household servants in order to command meal prep, and she had to erect her facade to do that, which meant having an escort. As seemed natural by now, she elected Xisheng for the task. She'd apparently taken some sort of liking to him.

That said, she still left a parting quip to those still in the room. "If I come back and this place is a battleground I'll kick all your butts!"

Xisheng wasn't quite sure that kind of warning would be sufficient considering the situation, but whether or not Azula would attack the Avatar in their current situation was debatable. One way or another, if a fight broke out Xisheng was fairly certain his allies had the upper hand. For all the clout of being the Avatar, the young Airbender hadn't really proven all that deadly in their personal encounters.

Regardless, Xisheng soon found himself being led through the Beifong estate once again, hand in hand with Toph just like before. For a solid minute, the diminutive Earthbender was silent in her trek, but soon enough she brought up a troubling topic.

"So, are you guys really from the Fire Nation?"

There was no accusation in Toph's voice; she didn't seem angered or irritated by the notion. Just curious. As for Xisheng, he knew that he was supposed to lie right now, but he wasn't so sure that it would be the right choice. The ultimate goal of this entire operation was to turn Toph against the Avatar, at least to an extent where she wouldn't help him. One could think the best way to do that would be to deceive her, but that could just as well backfire. If the truth was dragged out or mistakenly revealed it could actually make her more likely to oppose them.

Besides, even though Xisheng had only been acquainted with the girl for less than a day, it seemed fairly obvious to him that she didn't really bear any outright distaste for the Fire Nation. The notion of them being from the island country didn't seem to bother her, and she didn't seem to care all that much about the Avatar stopping the Fire Lord. No matter how he considered the situation, it seemed to Xisheng like they were better off being frank and trustworthy than trying to hide their allegiance.

Of course, maybe Azula would be mad about this, but Xisheng was not incapable of acting on his own. He was making a judgment call that he believed was in their best interests.

"Technically, I'm from the colonies, so that's up for debate. But as for the others, they're all natives. We are from the Fire Nation, no denying that."

To his credit, Toph didn't react to this news badly. In fact, she seemed befuddled above anything else. "That so? So the scary speech girl was lying and I couldn't tell at all..."

"I know I have no right to really say this all things considered, but please believe it if nothing else; we aren't here to hurt you, your family, or even your city. We have deceived you, but not to do you harm."

"I'll pretend that makes me feel a little better about it. But then what are you here for?"

"Specifically to stop the Avatar. Your family has only been involved because we knew he would come to you."

Toph seemed confused by this notion. "To stop the Avatar from... what exactly? I don't get it."

Xisheng wondered what consequence could possibly be inflicted on him if this all backfired horribly. He quickly decided not to think about it.

"You are a very powerful bender Toph. Probably the most powerful Earthbender any of us have ever seen. The last thing we want is for someone of your strength to side with the Avatar."

The young noble frowned at this. "So you're scared of me is all."

Xisheng couldn't help but scoff at the notion of Azula being scared of anything. "Not in the slightest. Our leader spoke so passionately about truly measuring your strength because she herself is incredibly strong. As a bender, she is undoubtedly equal to you in skill, and possibly better. That's not an insult towards you; as I said your abilities are phenomenal, and I've met hundreds of Earthbenders in battle. We're not scared of your abilities Toph, we respect them. The fact that our leader, who finds nearly all foes beneath her, acknowledges your threat as a potential enemy is evidence enough of her respect for you as a warrior. Truth be told I've never seen her place so much emphasis on the potential of another bender, and she doesn't even know you. I'm almost jealous."

Toph was silent for a moment as she pondered these words, perhaps wondering if they could be trusted after being lied to in the first place. "So that's how it is, huh? Can't say I still don't feel like a piece on a board. Why did you even tell me this? Won't your scary leader be mad?"

"Probably. But as I said, we respect you. I feel that you deserve to know the truth of things. Whether or not knowing the truth turns you for or against us, well... I cannot fault you for whatever decision you make. I just hope you'll give fair consideration to both sides of the conflict first."

The two of them turned down their fourth hall as they continued talking, seemingly still at ease with one another. "What, you think I wouldn't?"

"You're an Earth Kingdom citizen, whose country has been at war with my own for nearly a century. If you sided against us for the sole reason that we're from the Fire Nation and nothing else, I wouldn't be surprised in the least."

"Like that crazy girl with the Avatar? I'm always down for a good fight but just attacking people out of nowhere for a reason like that seems pretty stupid."

"I'm honestly surprised you feel that way."

"Why? The Fire Nation hasn't done squat to affect me. Yeah, there's a big war going on, but so what? It's nothing to get all uppity over. Maybe the Earth Kingdom should just stop getting their butts kicked in."

To say Xisheng was surprised to learn of this nonchalance regarding the war was an understatement. But then again, Toph wasn't wrong in saying the war had barely affected her own life. Due to the Fire Nation mostly ignoring Gaoling, and since Gaoling did most of its trade with big cities like Omashu and Ba Sing Se, the people living here hadn't really suffered much of anything in the past century of conflict. Other than misguided national pride, they really had no reason to detest the Fire Nation.

"I'm glad you're reasonable enough to consider both sides of the story. Not many people can do that without bias. That said... what will you do?"

Toph simply shrugged. "How should I know? All I've heard so far is that the Avatar wants me to train him and you guys don't want that. It's not exactly a whole lot to go on. Besides, who knows? I might not do anything. Could just play stupid and let you guys go about your business. We'll see over lunch, I guess."

That Toph was deciding to handle this situation in such a way definitely surprised Xisheng, but ultimately he decided that he had made a good call. He honestly couldn't see Toph discovering the truth any other way than this earning her support on the matter. That said, she could ultimately choose to side with the Avatar anyway, but Xisheng knew one very important thing about people, and moreover, about girls.

That women generally valued emotions more than men when making decisions was simply fact. It wasn't sexist, but rather just a general truth, and of course it bore its own exceptions. Azula was a calculating individual that obviously cared far more for logic and rationale in her decision making process. And the Avatar seemed to make almost all of his decisions based on emotion.

That said, if you were trying to guess the nature of someone you didn't know personally, it was usually safe to assume that the general statistic would be true. Xisheng could try to win Toph over with logic and facts, presenting sound arguments for why she should support the Fire Nation's cause in liberating the world... or he could simply try and earn her support by endearing himself and his allies to her. Fact of the matter was, they were more likely to have Toph side with them for the sole reason that she liked them than through any philosophical argument.

Shallow maybe, but nevertheless quite true. Regardless, now that the air was somewhat tense (though not necessarily between the two of them), Toph and Xisheng made the rest of their trip in silence. Thankfully it was a brief one, since it involved little more than a quick visit to the kitchens. Toph managed to succinctly explain the situation to the out of the loop servants there, though she left out nearly everything that would have been considered important to most people. No mention of the Avatar or the Fire Nation was made. In fact, Xisheng was simply labeled as a guest of her father's.

Even at her age, perhaps Toph realized it was easier to leave people in the dark if they didn't need to be enlightened.

Once the diminutive Earthbender was finished placing her order for lunch, she and her escort hurried back the way they had come, likely out of concern that someone or everyone would be dead or maimed.

To their relief, a return to their companions revealed that no fighting had occurred. A miracle really, considering the blatant venom in Katara's expression. Azula's patronizing, quiet smirk probably wasn't helping on that front. Regardless, everyone was still in one piece, engaging in a standoffish glaring contest that made it clear the ceasefire was well and truly temporary.

Toph was the first to comment on the situation as they returned.

"Well, everyone is still alive. I'm honestly surprised, all things considered."

The young girl angled her head at Katara, indicating that she was being referred to, but the Waterbender decided against any sort of retort. Whether that was because she had calmed down to some extent or if she didn't trust herself to stay civil was debatable.

Sokka missed the underlying nature of the exchange, responding only to Toph's words. "You're telling me. I can't believe these crazy harpies didn't jump on us the moment you left the room."

Azula looked ready to retort, but Ty Lee beat her to it, though she had clearly misunderstood the meaning. "Don't be ridiculous, there's no way we'd do that. You're way too scrawny."

The blatantly offended look on Sokka's face was apparently enough for Azula to stow whatever comeback she had originally intended, allowing Toph to intervene before the verbal sparring continued. She didn't seem to care that she had started it in the first place.

"Well, unlike some people, I'm not totally rude. Let's take up this very interesting conversation in the dining hall, shall we?"

Thanks to her present company's knowledge, Toph knew she didn't have to keep up any appearances, so she took it upon herself to lead her guests towards the dining hall without Xisheng's perceived assistance.

As for him, the soldier was looking for some sort of indication of Toph's feelings regarding the truth now that she knew it. As best as he could tell, she didn't really seem all that bothered by the knowledge, which was of course a good sign. However, it was difficult to tell what a blind girl was actually thinking. Xisheng hated to think it, but Toph's cloudy white eyes revealed very little. Certainly nothing like the easily noticeable shifts in a a mood that most people's made obvious.

In hindsight, perhaps it would have been a safer move to simply let Azula handle the situation. Xisheng had acted entirely without Azula's consent, in a manner she would almost certainly condemn. She was the leader, and she was the one that was supposed to make decisions. Xisheng had no doubt that she expected her leadership to be regarded in such a manner.

And yet, Xisheng knew this was not the way an effective unit worked. Of course there was a leader, and of course they were generally deferred to for orders. But what good was having people under your command that couldn't act of their own volition? If all of your subordinates were incapable of making good decisions without the leader's approval, they'd only be as useful so long as the leader was around to guide them. What if something went wrong while the leader wasn't around to give orders?

Point being, Xisheng had been trusted as a second-in-command many times over his brief military career. And he had been expected to make good judgments and good decisions without the explicit input of his superiors. He may had made a risky move in revealing the truth to Toph, but he was certain that it was a decision that best served their objective. Only time would tell if his confidence on the matter was well placed or not.

The current head of household ultimately led all of her guests to a large dining room with a long rectangular table in the center of it. She swiftly gestured for everyone to take a seat, though she herself took the slightly more ornate one at the head of the table. Clearly it was meant for her father, but it wasn't like there was anyone around to stop her. The servants certainly weren't going to chastise her.

Naturally, the two opposing groups took to opposite sides of the table, making for an altogether surreal scenario; the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation and her retinue, sitting across from the Avatar, their prime adversary, for a civil meal. It honestly looked more like a skit or comedy sketch than any real encounter.

But even though the situation was deceptively calm at the moment, Xisheng knew it could devolve into mortal combat at any time. The Waterbending girl, Katara, was still so obviously on edge that the slightest hint of danger could result in an attack. Her male counterpart was blatantly suspicious of everything going on, but seemed levelheaded enough to avoid confrontation when things were unclear. As for the Avatar, he was clearly nervous, yet he looked unusually determined to succeed in whatever he was here for today. Recruiting Toph, presumably.

Of course it wasn't as if the potential for conflict was solely due to the Avatar's group. Azula had been quite vague about the penultimate aim for this entire operation. Sure, she had stated that the main goal was to simply deny the Avatar a powerful ally and teacher, but surely she wouldn't be against taking advantage of an opportunity if it presented itself? After all, eliminating the Waterbender would put a big dent in the enemy's strength as well.

And there was Mai and Ty Lee as well. To be fair, Xisheng was certain he could rely on Mai not to act irrationally, if only because she hardly seemed capable of being on edge to begin with. And Ty Lee probably wasn't aggressive enough to strike first, but she was more impulsive. Even if she didn't make the situation worse on purpose, she could still make a mistake.

But Toph was definitely the largest factor to consider. Now that she knew the truth of things, the entire outcome of the day hinged on her whim. Xisheng didn't know her very well; he couldn't accurately make assumptions on what would influence her decision. For all he knew, Azula's rather scathing advice on Toph's level of ability would be enough of a petty reason for the girl to side against them.

Granted, she seemed a bit more level-headed than that, but it was still a possibility.

Since the food Toph had ordered was obviously not going to be ready for quite some time, the short Earthbender figured there was no point in everyone silently glaring at each other until it was ready. As per her usual modus operandi, she cut straight to the point as she addressed the Avatar and his friends.

"So, Twinkletoes, remind me why you're here again? Whatever it is wasn't important enough to remember the first time."

If the Avatar was offended, he managed to keep it hidden. "I need to master all four elements so I can defeat the Fire Lord and save the world! The next element I need to learn is Earthbending, and I think you're supposed to be my teacher. Like I said, I had a vision and you were in it!"

Toph grimaced at the second mention of a vision. "OK seriously, this talk about seeing me in a vision is creepy. What are you on about?"

"When my friends and I were flying over a giant swamp, a sudden tornado came out of nowhere and knocked us off of my Flying Bison, and there was a giant tree and a vine monster and-"

The only member of the Beifong family present raised a hand in an attempt to cut Aang off. "Whoa whoa, stop. Are you just crazy or do you actually think I'm that stupid?"

Aang looked convinced he had actually offended Toph. "No, it's neither of those! That stuff is all true, I swear!"

Toph naturally didn't look convinced in the slightest, leading Sokka to come to his friend's aid. "Alright, admittedly that all sounds pretty insane when you say it out loud. But we've already proven that Aang is the Avatar. Does anything else really matter? What more reason do you need to help him?"

"A lot. You keep talking like the fact he's 'the Avatar' means I should feel honored to help him with anything he asks. Like I should consider myself blessed he wants a favor from me. You know what I know about the Avatar? You can bend more than one element. That's it. I don't know anything else about you or what it is you do, or what makes you so special that you feel entitled to my help. You explain those things, and maybe I'd actually consider what it is you want from me."

The Avatar and his friends all looked quite shocked that Toph was so passively hostile to them. It wasn't like they hadn't met a handful of people that disliked him, but for the most part people treated Aang like a returning hero. Only a small number of those they had encountered rejected him or what he stood for.

But then again, Toph had just stated that she didn't know for sure what Aang did or what he was supposed to be. Maybe she just needed it explained to her, and even though Aang wasn't all that sure on the specifics himself, he felt as though he could do that well enough.

"The Avatar is a bridge between the Spirit World and the physical world. It's my job to keep the balance so that everyone can live in harmony."

The sole child of the household leaned back in her chair. "Right... so uh, what exactly are you supposed to be balancing right now? World seems fine to me."

Naturally it was Katara that answered this one, and none too gently. She got pretty passionate whenever the Fire Nation's conquest of the world was mentioned.

"If you're trying to joke around it isn't funny! The Fire Nation has taken over more than half the world and they're on their way to taking it all! How much more unbalanced can things get?!"

"So, almighty Avatar, is there gonna be some sort of global natural catastrophe that destroys the world just because one country took some land from some other countries? How does that work?"

The look on Aang's face showed that he wasn't prepared to answer this question. "Well, n-not exactly..."

"What then? What bad things happen if the world isn't 'in balance?' If something bad doesn't happen because of it then who cares?"

It was once again Katara who rose to defend their cause. "Everyone! Everyone that is losing their home and their land and their livelihood cares! Everyone except you! The whole Earth Kingdom is nearing the edge of total defeat and you don't seem to care at all!"

Toph shrugged, just as her father's servants began filing in with different dishes prepared. "I don't care. Gaoling hasn't been bothered by them. And even if it was, what difference does it make to me? Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation... I can't even see what banner is flying over the city. Why should I care who is in charge of the government? I mean, the Fire Nation comes in and controls some land, but it's just dirt and trees and houses and stuff. It's not like we're losing it."

By the incredulous look on Katara's face, it was clear that she couldn't fathom this line of thought in the slightest. Sokka clearly missed most of it since he completely focused on his food as soon as it was placed in front of him.

As for Toph, she quickly turned her attention to her first guests, the ones masquerading as something they weren't. After all, they had been awfully quiet thus far.

"So? What about you guys?"

It seemed to Xisheng that Toph was actually speaking to him first and foremost, but Azula answered fast enough that he didn't get a chance to anyway.

"I'm afraid you'll have to be a bit more specific. What about us?"

"This whole balance and world war business. You got opinions right?"

Azula opened her mouth to speak, but Toph beat her to the punch a this time. "I'm asking all of you, just so you know. Not your spokesperson that always seems to answer for everyone."

Xisheng had to suppress a wince upon hearing this, knowing for certain that Azula would not be happy to be interrupted. He didn't know if the Princess would manage to react according to her disguise with something that irked her so much.

However, Azula managed to respond very civilly, despite the twitch of her brow. "Very well. However, I am part of the group am I not? I may as well start."

Toph merely shrugged, managing to keep a very solid front up considering that she knew the truth behind all of Azula's deceptions. Xisheng could only hope that wouldn't come back to bite him in some horrendous manner.

For now though, nothing bad happened as Azula presented her opinion.

"I would say something cliche such as 'the strong prey on the weak,' but I'd rather say the the more accurate 'the capable benefit from the incapable.' It's not just strength. The intelligent manipulate the stupid. The wise deceive the foolish. The rich extort the poor, and yes, the strong coerce the weak. All of life is about the more capable benefitting from their lesser kin. Even animals survive by taking advantage of weaker or less intelligent beings, and even plants use their advantages to monopolize the nutrients they need, forcing others to suffer. In short, it seems ridiculous to claim that the Fire Nation taking from other countries is upsetting the 'natural balance' of the world when nature has made it abundantly clear that this is the way the world is supposed to work. Those that cry about the unfairness of this war are just victims that won't admit their own weakness is the source of all of their problems."

Azula leveled her calm gaze specifically at Katara as she said this, and the Waterbender did not miss out on this at all.

"A typical answer for a heartless warmonger like you. You'll come up with any sort of morally corrupt excuse to justify your actions!"

The Crown Princess shrugged. "I never claimed it was moral. Just natural. Besides, that's just my point of view; I can't speak for why the Fire Nation continues its conquest."

Katara may have had a comeback ready, but apparently Mai was already tired with the conversation and offered up her opinion to interrupt it.

"Who cares? The war is a thing that's happening. Why bother tacking on all this nonsense about ethics or the natural state of the world or any of that? It's an event that has happened, is happening, and will continue to happen. Whether or not you accept it or condone it doesn't change any of that."

Surprisingly Sokka actually looked up from whatever meat he was eating to comment on this. "That's practical, but to the extreme. You're right that we can't change what has already happened, but if everyone told themselves they can't affect the future, then who is actually going to do it? What are you even doing here if you don't think you're affecting anything worthwhile?"

Mai folded her arms, clearly not interested in extending the conversation to that length. "I hate being bored. And this was entertaining. I don't care about any of the rest of it."

Like his sister, Sokka wasn't really left with any sort of answer to that. After all, it wasn't like he could say Mai's reason was invalid. You didn't really need a very philosophical or righteous reason to justify anything you did.

Seeing as how Mai wasn't going to say anything further, Toph vaguely swiveled her head in Ty Lee's direction, indicating that she wanted to hear from the acrobat next.

While generally fine with any sort of attention, Ty Lee was obviously uncomfortable with being put on the spot over this subject. Still, she did like making her opinion known, and in some way she kind of wanted to put it out there. It was worth seeing how Xisheng would react, if he did it openly enough to begin with.

"W-well, I..."

The young acrobat glanced over at Xisheng's seat, wondering if he would be offended or hurt by what she had to say. In the end, she figured it was just best to be honest.

"I hate the idea of hurting other people, physically or emotionally. I wish violence didn't exist, and that everyone could just get along. I know that's naive and impossible, but I still wish it could be that way. I can't imagine ever dedicating my life to fighting or conflict, and I have no idea what possesses someone to do that. But as for whether it's objectively right or wrong, justified or corrupt... I'm sorry. I don't have the wisdom to know any of that."

Surprisingly, the Avatar seemed to empathize with Ty Lee. Or at least, he vocalized as much. "I know how that feels... people keep expecting me to know what's right or wrong, but I just don't. I just know what I want to try and stop..."

Perhaps the young Airbender would have gone a little farther, but Toph was quick to usher his comment along. "Yeah, yeah, that's great Twinkletoes, but I'm more interested in what he has to say."

Seeing as how Xisheng hadn't made any comment yet, it was clear that Toph was referring to him. Unfortunately the young soldier didn't know what all he could say while still maintaining his cover, but he figured that he was clever enough to handle it. It was amusing though, that Toph already knew the truth, and Xisheng was just trying to maintain appearances for Azula instead.

"I believe war is a terrible thing. Many atrocities are committed during war. Thousands of soldiers lose their lives, some for a cause they don't believe in or even know about. A country's people suffer in their day to day lives; increased taxes, food shortages, conscription, rationing... war brings many terrible curses down on all who participate, even the victors. I fully understand this, and I lament it every day."

For a brief moment, Xisheng received a look of empathy, confused though it was, from Katara. Maybe she thought he was of the same mind as her. She would quickly learn otherwise.

"However, I believe that war, horrific though it may be, is sometimes necessary. Sometimes a country simply needs more land or resources to support itself. Or perhaps it needs a common enemy to keep its people unified. Because war is so terrible and costly, no one wages it without some sort of cause worth making that sacrifice. I don't know what the Fire Nation wants to achieve in this war. Maybe it's just for personal gain, to help their own country and their own people. Or maybe they also want to aid those in foreign nations as they take their land along the way. All I know is that I can't fault the Fire Nation for fighting for what it believes in. And I can't fault the Earth Kingdom or Water Tribes for defending themselves. That's all there is to it really. Sorry if that answer was a bit more vague than you were hoping for."

There was silence around the table as Toph listened to his words, casually taking in a spoonful of soup as she did so. It was an out of place display of calmness in the otherwise tense and unfriendly atmosphere. But when she did speak, it wasn't to utter anything that everyone was expecting.

"How old are you anyway?"

Momentarily caught off-guard, Xisheng didn't answer immediately. He wasn't sure where this question had come from or why it was even being asked. He did however, notice that the girls in his group seemed rather curious to hear his answer as well. All three of them had focused their attention on him, though naturally Azula and Mai were more subtle about it. It seemed odd at first, but ultimately Xisheng realized he was no different: he didn't actually know exactly how old any of them were either, and he was curious.

Either way, he was the only one expected to speak at the moment, so he wasn't going to delay for long.

"Seventeen."

Toph scoffed at his answer. "Could have fooled me. You're way too young for all this wise old man nonsense. Though I guess your scary boss lady is even worse..."

Azula didn't seem at all bothered by the assessment. It was unlikely that she would ever be insulted by someone saying she was wise beyond her years. Still, it was unclear what was going through Toph's mind at the moment, which was a bit nerve-wracking for her many guests. It wasn't made any better by the fact that she didn't say anything else for a solid five minutes, instead focusing on her meal with unusual intensity.

To say this made things awkward was an understatement, as the enemies at the table were all left in relative silence, either glaring at or pointedly ignoring each other. As for Xisheng, he could tell that even Azula had grown slightly worried; no doubt she was questioning what Toph could have possibly been considering so intensely. After all, she didn't know that Toph was aware of her their true nature. She must have been worried that her plan was potentially unraveling.

Xisheng too pondered over what was about to happen, and how he should react depending on the answer. If a fight broke out, the first move would be crucial in this situation. Realistically speaking, the Fire Nation natives could attack right now and probably defeat or even kill the Avatar. He was nervous, but not prepared; it was obvious that he wasn't actively expecting an attack, and only his reflexes would be able to save him from a sudden ambush.

Realistically speaking, Mai was the best choice for a sudden strike. She was not faster than Azula in general, but the movement of flinging a knife across the table could be accomplished more quickly than launching a jet of flame. The motions were just less demanding. But as Azula had stated before, Mai wasn't a killer, at least not inherently. It was unlikely she would take the initiative to outright kill the twelve or thirteen year old child on the other side of the table. And even Azula might not be able to commit to that action outright.

That only left Xisheng as the absolute, guaranteed option of killing the Avatar in a surprise attack that no one expected. And it was more than possible. At this exact moment, when no one was ready, when no one expected a lethal blow, Xisheng had a very real opportunity to lash out and incinerate the Avatar. What happened afterwards would be anyone's guess: maybe Katara would strike back fast enough to kill him in return. Maybe Toph would attack because of what he had done.

But if the Avatar were slain, would the immediate consequences matter at all? Azula had stated it would be pointless to outright eliminate him since he would ultimately reincarnate, but Xisheng didn't agree. If the Avatar was forced to reincarnate now, the Fire Nation would have a decade or more to finish the war unmolested. It was a surefire way to guarantee victory at this stage of the conflict, and Xisheng couldn't frown on such a thing in the slightest.

His dual colored gaze focusing entirely on the Avatar's young face, Xisheng's favored hand clenched with anxiety and anticipation, waiting for the mental order to attack. No matter how he considered the situation, Xisheng couldn't see why this wasn't the best course of action to take. Eliminate their deadliest foe right here, right now, and everything would be over. The Fire Nation would win, the war would essentially be a foregone conclusion... he could guarantee that all of the sacrifice that had occurred until now was not in vain. All he needed to do was slay the young child before him.

Flexing his right hand again, Xisheng could feel the ambient heat of his chi engulfing it. He'd yet to conjure a flame, but he could do so in an instant. It all came down to whether or not he would do it.

"You should fight."

Startled out of his deadly focus by Toph's nonchalant voice, Xisheng, along with everyone else at the table, turned their attention to the young Earthbender. Aang was the first to question what she had said.

"Fight? About what?"

Toph looked as though she had not said anything unusual. "About who I should side with, of course. Look, I don't actually care about much in this world. But I do care about who has strength. So, Avatar, if you want me to teach you Earthbending, prove you're strong enough to warrant my attention."

Aang did not look inherently pleased with this notion, but it was Azula who spoke out against it. "No offense, but surely you aren't suggesting that we fight the Avatar? Capable we may be, but that outcome is practically inevitable."

The Beifong heir donned a smug expression, and Xisheng could feel the dread knotting in his gut. He had messed up, hadn't he? He had exposed the entire mission to this temperamental child and his faith in her would be rewarded with failure and betrayal.

With full confidence in his prediction, Xisheng was just starting to rise to his feet when Toph snapped a fist towards Azula's face, yanking a square chunk of stone out of a nearby wall. From the corner of his eye, the Fire Nation officer witnessed the reactions of his allies. Ty Lee barely even registered that they were being attacked, while Mai was displaying her exceptional reaction time, already reaching into her sleeves to draw weapons. As for Azula, Xisheng could see the shock in her golden eyes: not because she had not considered this possible scenario, but because she had been confident that it wouldn't come to pass.

After all, how could she have known that Xisheng acted without her input in regards to her plan? She had probably expected better of him.

Said soldier had his fist halfway through the motion of a punch when the stone Toph had thrown exploded in a cloud of dust and azure flame a few inches in front of Azula's face. The dust cleared rather quickly, revealing the fading flames of Azula's right hand, alongside an extremely venomous glare for the young Earthbender that had attacked her. Xisheng had yet to see such a dangerous gleam in her eye, and yet, the Princess' voice remained eerily calm and exacting.

"It seems quite hypocritical to judge your other guests for their rudeness only to turn and assault your own allies, wouldn't you say?"

Toph didn't seem bothered by Azula's reaction, though it may have been because she couldn't see the severity of her expression. As for Azula's companions, Xisheng and Mai were prepared for the next attack, and Ty Lee was simply dumbfounded by this turn of events.

"Don't sound so hostile. I wasn't trying to hurt you; I just wanted to put your honesty to the test."

"Oh really? If I weren't a bender that most certainly would have killed me."

Reclining back in her seat, Toph placed her now bare feet on top of the dining table. When she had lost her shoes was anyone's guess.

"Nah, I knew you were lying the whole time. I told you people can't lie to me."

This implication seemed to irritate Azula more, but mostly because she thought Toph's attitude was misplaced.

"Yet you think you can lie to me? I never said I wasn't a Firebender. In fact, I never even claimed that none of my group was from the Fire Nation. So do tell, what exactly was I lying about?"

A prominent frown made it onto Toph's face as she considered this. Azula actually had a great point; while she had never claimed that neither she nor her friends weren't Firebenders, she had also not stated that they were. And she had stated that they were from the Fire Nation in some capacity. In the end Toph couldn't deny that she never would have known anything was up without Xisheng's admittance of the truth. Of course, she could have revealed his folly, but considering how nice and understanding he was, Toph didn't really have any desire to get him in trouble with his boss.

"OK, so maybe I didn't _know_ that you were lying. But I knew you were hiding something at least. Besides, this does prove that Twinkletoes and his gang here weren't wrong either."

"Good to know you gambled my life on a hunch, esteemed hostess."

Toph certainly didn't miss the sarcasm in Azula's title for her, but considering the situation she figured it was somewhat warranted.

"Look, I wasn't kidding about being able to determine when people are telling the truth. And thing is, as far as I could tell, both you and Twinkletoes' girlfriend here were telling the truth-"

"Hold on, g-girlfriend?!"

Other than a mildly irritated furrow of her brow, Toph didn't react to Katara's outburst.

"And since it was obvious that you couldn't both be telling the truth about the same thing, someone had to be lying. And no offense to you and your friends, but the Avatar and his pals are way too open and naive to be the ones lying. Total offense to them."

Sensing an irritable response from the only Waterbender in the area, Azula decided to interrupt the tirade before it began. Besides, there were clearly more serious matters to attend to.

"So our own competence betrays us; how unfortunate. Do tell how this revelation will affect the day's proceedings, will you?"

Tilting her chair back to lean even further, it was obvious that Toph was not at all concerned with 'the day's proceedings.'

"Look, I'll cut right to the chase. Maybe you guys are 'evil secret agents' from the Fire Nation here to bring Gaoling to its knees. Or maybe you really are just a group of mercenaries trying to make some money on Xin Fu's stupidity. I honestly don't really care."

The young Earthbender tilted her head towards the Avatar and his friends.

"And maybe you guys really are on a quest to 'save the world' from some cosmic unbalance or whatever. I honestly don't care about that either."

Perhaps reaching a point that she actually considered important, Toph finally put her chair and her body back in a regular position.

"What I _do_ care about is proving that I'm the best Earthbender in the world! But to do that..."

Toph slightly swiveled her head in Azula's direction.

"I have to fight people strong enough to really test my skills. So, the answer is obvious; you guys fight it out and then I'll choose who to side with."

Surprisingly, it was Sokka who had an objection on the Avatar's side. Honestly Xisheng had expected Katara to speak up again.

"No offense, but isn't that thought process a little... shallow? I mean, we're talking about the fate of the world here..."

"No offense string bean, but no one asked you."

"S-string bean?!"

Ignoring the exchange entirely, Xisheng was somewhat surprised to see a smirk cross Azula's face. She didn't actually seem all that displeased by this turn of events. Then again, it wasn't hard to figure out why; it was actually a win-win situation for them. After all, if the Avatar wanted to get Toph on his side, he would be forced to stand and fight rather than run, and that meant providing Azula's group with an opening to capture or kill him. And if he did run, then he would miss the opportunity to get a very powerful Earthbender on his team. Unless they were actually beaten, this couldn't go too poorly for Azula's team.

Then again, Xisheng didn't share Azula's confidence on the matter. Thing was, in the one time they had actually engaged the Avatar, he hadn't been cornered. He had been relatively capable of escape at any time, and had been clearly focused on evasion rather than fighting. In other words, Azula's retinue hadn't faced the Avatar at his full strength yet. Who could say if he wasn't powerful enough to best all of them if he was forced to?

Still, it was somewhat obvious that the Avatar disliked engaging in violence when he could help it. Hopefully, if he really was strong enough to defeat them all, it would end without fatalities.

Eager to witness the prowess of the warriors in her home, Toph folded her arms in dismay at the fact that they weren't yet fighting.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Hop to it!"

Understandably confused, Mai cocked an eyebrow at the girl.

"Not that I care, but... here? In the dining room?"

"Why not? Either way I'm getting out of this place. Preferably with one of you but alone if I have to. Your boss said it herself; my parents are holding me back and I'm sick of it! They've got more than enough money to fix any mess you leave anyway. Throwing money at things is all they're good at."

Xisheng and Ty Lee exchanged worried looks, likely both thinking that Azula was a very bad influence in some regards. Sure, she was trying to reach her full potential here, but she probably didn't have to be so reckless and vengeful about it.

With no investment in the state of the manor, Azula rose from the table with a smirk.

"Well, who am I to contest our gracious hostess? Aside from a particular incident she's treated us very well, so I suggest we entertain her as suggested, Avatar."

The expression on Aang's face was evidence enough that he had no idea how the situation had gotten to this point, and he clearly still had qualms about getting into a fight in the Beifong estate. Still, he obviously had enough wits about him to lean back and essentially roll out of his chair when Azula punched a gout of blue flame at him.

With it now clear that this was really going to happen, as ridiculous as it may be, everyone leaped into action at speeds befitting their abilities. This notably resulted in Sokka stumbling out of his chair more clumsily than anyone else, but he didn't have to suffer for his haphazard evasion anyway, since no one attacked him. Ty Lee was in a similar boat, but only in the sense that she hadn't really needed to backflip out of her chair. With Aang still getting to his feet, Katara was the only immediate threat, and both Mai and Xisheng attacked her without hesitation, assaulting the Waterbender with a combination of knives and flame.

Having apparently been on edge and prepared for a fight at any given moment, Katara reacted remarkably quickly, raising a small wall of ice to protect her from the pouch at her waist. Said wall protected her for only a brief moment, but it was enough for the Waterbender to actually prepare herself for the coming fight.

With a moment of his own to assess the situation, Xisheng realized that his team actually had far more advantages than he had previously realized. Fact of the matter was, this battleground favored the Fire Nation natives almost entirely. Both of the enemy's most powerful fighters was severely limited in the space that was the Beifong dining room; Katara had no readily available supply of water other than the small amount she had on her person, and the Avatar's skilled evasion was hindered by the confines of being in a room at all.

In fact, Katara's danger could be nullified completely if the Firebenders in the group simply evaporated all of her water over the course of the fight. That would likely occur naturally as Katara blocked attacks.

On the flipside, the enclosed space offered nothing but benefits to Azula's team. As far as being a projectile was concerned, fire was the relatively slowest element, so less distance to travel was a great boon. While Mai was already fast with her knives, the short range would make her harder to avoid, and Ty Lee's benefit in this situation was obvious. All in all, Xisheng couldn't help but think this was actually a rather skewed contest in earning Toph's approval. Never mind the fact that it was four on three.

The thought of an easy victory stumbled somewhat as Aang used his position on the floor to send a powerful gust of wind under the dining table, knocking Xisheng's legs out from under him. He was just grateful that his head didn't smash into the table on the way down, sparing him the humiliation as he retaliated against the Avatar in an identical fashion once he was on the ground. Naturally Aang avoided that by leaping back into the air.

While it had only been for a moment, Xisheng berated himself for underestimating the Avatar; he was very clever in the use of his versatile element.

As for the others, they did a relatively good job of picking their targets appropriately. Mai decided against attacking the Avatar at all, since it was clear that projectiles weren't a fantastic choice against someone that could alter the airflow on a whim. Granted, maybe she still could have taken him down with speed or saturation, but Azula was focusing on the young Airbender anyway, so the raven haired sniper decided to distract Katara instead.

Unfortunately, 'distract' was about the full extent of her usefulness against the Waterbender. All of Mai's projectiles flew in a straight line, so all Katara had to do was raise a shield in front of her. And sharp as they were, Mai's knives still weren't going to penetrate a slab of ice. Still, this tactic had worked relatively well with Ty Lee helping, so hopefully that teamwork would win the day again. Then again, considering that Ty Lee had apparently been roped into attacking the Avatar by Azula, it was apparently going to be up to just Mai for the moment.

A few more arrows and daggers from her sleeves prevented Katara from taking any offensive action, but she didn't need to, since her brother came to the rescue a moment later.

To his credit, Sokka would have probably knocked her clean out or worse with that club of his, since Mai (and everyone else apparently) had completely forgotten that he posed a threat. To his discredit, Sokka's ambush would have gone a lot better if he hadn't loosed a kind of squeaky war cry as he charged her.

Alerted to the danger, Mai managed to sidestep a downward swing from Sokka's club, but even at that moment the Fire Nation combatant was still focusing on Katara and the water whip she was about to unleash on her. Sokka may not have been an experienced warrior, but Mai definitely couldn't handle both him and his sister at the same time.

Admittedly feeling a significant degree of panic, Mai nevertheless managed to keep any relief off of her face when a gout of orange flame vaporized the liquid between Katara's hands. Apparently Gohan had finally realized that she was being tag-teamed over here and had come to her aid. A small part of Mai was mildly pleased that he'd divert his attention from the all important Avatar to help her, but she figured it was mostly practicality on his part; the Avatar was already facing two opponents, and they only had a number advantage as long as all four of them were still fighting. Preventing an ally from being defeated was common sense.

Ignoring the flashes of orange going off to her side now that she was confident it was safe to do so, Mai refocused her attention on Sokka, who looked nervous now that it was one on one. Or maybe it was just Mai's glaring abilities. Anyone's guess really.

Brandishing more of her blades, Mai tried to make the fight even easier by intimidating Sokka out of it. After all, she was honestly surprised he even had enough of a spine to step in for his sister.

"You don't seem entirely dense; tell me, do you really see this situation ending well for you at all?"

Sokka did actually seem pretty intimidated by Mai's knives, but maybe it was just a matter of wondering how many she had hidden away. Even so, he didn't back down.

"What are you talking about? We're both non-benders, so it's an even fight!"

"Do you really think so? That's kind of sad."

Irritated by her condescension, Sokka drew his boomerang.

"Oh yeah? Watch this!"

With a good arm and lots of practice, Sokka made a great throw of his favorite weapon, but even so one would have to be completely incompetent to not avoid something they saw happening right in front of them, so Mai managed to tilt her head out of the way as the steel weapon passed her.

"Imagine that; you missed."

Her Water Tribe assailant smirked as he saw his boomerang make its arc back towards its caster.

"Or did I?"

However, his expression quickly faltered when Mai tilted her head forward this time, avoiding the projectile once again as it sailed over her and back into Sokka's hand.

"Yes, you did."

"O-oh, heh, that... usually works..."

His Fire Nation adversary cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Seriously? How many people in the world don't know how a boomerang works?"

"A lot more than you think, trust me."

Not too far away, Xisheng ensured that Katara would not be able to attack any of his other allies. It was an easy enough matter; the Waterbender girl was heavily disadvantaged, on the run from the start of her combat with her Firebending foe.

Of course, a big part of it was the fact that Katara had a lot less to work with than her opponent. There was no readily available source of water for her to use in the Beifong dining room, leaving her with only the water she carried at her hip. It was enough for the odd scuffle with your standard Firebending goon, but until now Katara hadn't fully realized that was all she had really faced.

After her training with Pakku, Katara had indeed reached a great level of skill, but in hindsight, she had not been presented with many opportunities to use any of that training in practical application. The most skilled foe she had faced alone thus far had was Zuko, an individual with a fair deal of power, but little in the way of talent or battle intelligence.

This man she faced now was different. His attacks had purpose, intent beyond 'wound or kill.' He didn't wildly launch flame at her in blind hope that one attack would eventually connect. His offense was his defense, and vice versa. He would launch spheres of flame from two sides, forcing Katara to erect a wall of ice rather than evade, for the sole purpose of evaporating that previous water with a more powerful immolating blast. When Katara did find openings to attack, her foe never simply defended himself. He would always counter in the same motion, not only kicking water whips into vapor, but arcing the same defensive flame at Katara's body to constantly keep her on the move.

Oddly enough, it was quite akin to a lesson that Pakku had taught her, not about Waterbending in particular, but about fighting in general. 'The easiest way to defeat someone with talent but little experience was to give them no time to think.' As much as Katara hated to admit that she was in that category, she had no choice but to accept it as she deflected a fireball with a swipe of water, only for a second projectile to be directly behind it. With no time to make any bending motion all she could really do was essentially fall over backwards to avoid getting scorched.

Katara knew, without the lens of pride or arrogance, that she had talent. Pakku had made it clear that he, as a greatly experienced master, considered her to be one of his most promising pupils. But only now that she was fighting this battle did the young Waterbender realize that she still possessed a critical deficiency in experience. The way this Firebender moved; with absolute certainty in each motion, always flowing from one to the next without hesitation, knowing the ideal followup or reaction to any one attack by instinct, was evidence enough that he had been in many battles against many skilled foes.

While Katara knew she had the potential to be like that, it was obvious by the fact that she was entirely on the defensive that she wasn't there yet. In hindsight, it made sense considering the relatively low level of skill most of her foes had been thus far, never forcing her to truly push her limits and sharpen her natural skills. Even with the time she had spent under Pakku, she hadn't reached the level of martial ability where every movement and nuance of battle was natural to her. With the constant barrage of unorthodox attacks and counters, she could barely do anything other than react on instinct to stay unharmed. Trying to remember any particularly useful skill from her training was difficult under the duress.

Still, Katara had been in a number of fights, and she didn't have to be a master to know she couldn't win if all she did was evade and defend. Besides, with the limited amount of water she had and the fact that she was losing some of it every time it got vaporized, a battle of attrition was quite obviously not in the cards. The Waterbender had to do something that would secure a win quickly and efficiently, or she was toast.

With this in mind, Katara settled on the most efficient way to use what she had available; icicles would serve her well, especially if they were small enough to avoid being seen. Attempting to double down on the possibility of hitting Xisheng with an attack he didn't see, Katara used her right hand to lash out at him with another water whip, while using her left to manifest a few small icicle darts to send his way as well.

To her credit, Xisheng did not actually see the icicles themselves coming at him. But what he could plainly see was that Katara was doing more than just mustering another water whip. As she had already used many before, he could tell that she was doing something else at the same time. He didn't have to know what it was to actually defend himself from it.

With no way of knowing what secondary attack was coming, Xisheng settled for an all around defense, using his flames to create a sphere around his body. Based on the small amount of water Katara had available to her, there was no attack she could pull off that would overpower the heat of his flames.

Waiting what he felt like was an appropriate amount of time to have blocked Katara's offensive, Xisheng pushed his sphere of flame forwards, catching his Waterbending foe completely off-guard; the last thing she had expected was for a shield maneuver to be used offensively.

With no other choice besides raising a water shield, Katara sacrificed over half of her reserves protecting herself, watching in dismay as her defense held off the enemy attack, but was blasted into steam. Unfortunately, the visual cover didn't provide a moment of reprieve as expected, as her foe took advantage of her temporary blindness to close the distance between them. By the time Katara realized her opponent was doing something as unusual as closing in for melee, he had already snapped her body against the wall behind her.

Now in close proximity, Katara was faced with an altogether different problem. Namely, the young man she was face to face with didn't look anything like the way her mind had imagined Fire Nation soldiers to be; assuming this was the same man that had been with the trio of girls that attacked them before.

The majority of the Fire Nation soldiers she had faced had been masked. Sure, there were people like Zuko or the Rough Rhinos, but they had all fit decently well with her mental image of the heinous marauders hellbent on destroying the world. The person she faced right now didn't strike her as such, and she didn't like that feeling at all; seeing someone so normal and admittedly somewhat handsome didn't really fit with Katara's conception of Fire Nation grunts, and despite the intensity of the situation, a part of her couldn't help but look back on the defense of the Air Temple not too long in the past; a lot of 'faceless' Fire Nation troops had been buried alive or knocked clean off the mountain that day.

Still, the words that came out of her opponent's mouth reminded Katara that he was no different from anyone from the Fire Nation that she had faced before.

"Katara, was it? I suggest you put an end to this foolishness while you still can. You have your whole life ahead of you; don't give me a reason to cut it short so soon."

Fully reminded that the person that gripped her was an enemy that deserved no sympathy, Katara's blue eyes hardened in an icy glare.

"As if monsters like you would need an excuse to kill anyone to start with. Your kind have made it perfectly clear that surrendering doesn't grant the weak any mercy!"

If Xisheng was offended by Katara's harsh words, it didn't show on his face. If anything, his expression almost seemed... pitying. Needless to say, that infuriated Katara far more than any alternative.

"Your misconceptions about me are your own, and I'm certain I can't change them anytime soon. Be that as it may, I still feel obligated to be honest with you; I get the feeling the foes you have faced until now haven't down a very good job of presenting the gravity of your situation. I have no desire to harm someone of your age, but if you continue to be a threat to my allies, make no mistake: I will kill you."

There was a serious degree of conviction in Xisheng's voice that quite frankly scared and intimidated Katara. She didn't doubt his sincerity for a minute, and hearing something so intimidating from someone so young didn't help either. His looks were deceiving; he was a deadlier foe than he appeared.

Even so, Katara wasn't about to back down. Her cause was far too important for her to be intimidated. In the end he was just another Ashmaker trying to scare the innocent into submitting.

"You don't have the guts to do something like that. I'm not someone that will be scared by empty words and a glare. We will stop you, no matter what!"

Having not restrained her arms, Xisheng found out too late that Katara still planned to fight, as she used one of her them to bend an attack from behind him. Unsure of where she had gained the substance for said attack, the Firebender nevertheless turned to face it, somewhat insulted to discover that his foe was attacking him with soup from their earlier meal. A quick gout of flame was enough to disperse the green liquid, but the distraction gave Katara enough time to plant her foot in Xisheng's abdomen and push. With the wall to brace against behind her, Xisheng's superior physique and strength was overpowered enough to knock him back.

More impressed by the extent of her desperation than anything else, Xisheng simply sighed as he retook his fighting stance. It seemed he would have to convince Katara of the gravity of their conflict with lethal force after all.

On Aang's side of things, the fight was, once again, not much of a fight so much as a dance of sorts. The young Airbender was being double teamed by his opponents just like their first encounter, but this time it was actually far worse. Where before, he had been required to dodge flame of one color or another whenever he landed, now he was forced to deal with something far more dangerous, something that ironically had nothing to do with the elements at all.

The brunette with the long braid was hounding his every step, both impressing and intimidating Aang by nearly matching his movements to the letter. To see someone that wasn't a bender move with almost as much agility as an Air Nomad was something else. Granted, Aang had a few advantages, such as the ability to redirect himself in midair, so as of yet he hadn't been touched by the girl.

That said, he distinctly recalled Katara's retelling of events after they had escaped Omashu. According to his crush, her arm had been completely paralyzed after this girl had landed a hit on her. And mobility being his greatest strength, Aang wasn't too keen on losing that edge. Without his ability to move he'd be burnt to a crisp by those terrifying blue flames.

As he flipped over Ty Lee's head to avoid her, the Avatar was faced with a gout of those exact azure flames, forcing him to adopt an unusual counter. With little other option, Aang attempted to blow the flames back from whence they came, but to his shock and detriment, his wind only seemed to empower the blaze further as it approached him.

With an even more powerful blast now mere feet from his person, Aang made an emergency maneuver and simply blew himself higher with his lungs and his bending. But while he successfully evaded the attack, his haste launched him rather roughly into the ceiling. Falling back to the ground in a slight daze, he had less than a moment to react before Ty Lee was on him again, only this time he wasn't ready.

Before he could do anything to defend himself, Aang received four rapid strikes to different parts of his arms, at which point they quickly fell limp at his side. Seeing this, Ty Lee visibly relaxed.

"OK, so you can give up now right? There's no reason to keep fighting."

A little miffed to be underestimated, Aang's chose to forego a verbal response in favor of taking a deep breath, only to release it in a windy blast that succinctly launched his assailant across the room, and right towards the skirmish between Xisheng and Katara.

Ever aware of his surroundings, the Fire Nation officer noticed the incoming projectile that was his ally even as he took note of Katara's next Waterbending attack. Under normal circumstances Xisheng would leave Ty Lee to her own recovery, since he had more faith in her in that regard than anyone else. But Aang's gale had accelerated the acrobat to a speed too fast for her to risk catching herself on the hard stone floor. Even with her finesse that kind of impact would probably break an arm.

Seeing Katara form a sphere of water in front of her, Xisheng simply held out a hand to stop her.

"Hold that thought, would you?"

Startled by the nonchalance and completely unexpected choice to ignore her threat in the middle of a fight, Katara actually did falter for the moment it took Xisheng to reposition himself to intercept his airborne friend.

Though she was undoubtedly the lightest member of the party, Ty Lee's impact into his arms was still a solid one, forcing a staggered grunt out of the soldier. Ty Lee on the other hand barely seemed affected at all, instead breaking into a wide smile as she assessed the situation.

"Aw, Gohan, you really are the best! Even in the middle of a fight, you're always looking out for us! Is there anything you can't do?"

More than a little peeved to be ignored, Katara cut into the moment.

"Possess common human decency, for one."

Ty Lee directed her attention to the Waterbender with a very uncharacteristic glare.

"I don't want to hear that from you Miss 'use my bending to freeze people that won't do what I want.'"

"How did you even-? Whatever, that was justified! They were preventing the Avatar from accomplishing something important!"

"By that logic we're justified just because you're stopping us from doing something important."

Preparing to attack again, Katara snarled at them.

"Don't compare your goals to ours! We're trying to save the world, you just want to conquer it all for yourselves!"

Knowing he wouldn't be able to defend himself in his current position, Xisheng lowered Ty Lee to the ground, though he still addressed her.

"Ty Lee, maybe you should return to Azula? She might need your help."

Casting a glance in Azula's general direction, Ty Lee seemed to think otherwise.

"Nah, I think she has it under control."

Seeing the way Azula was more or less manhandling the supposedly almighty Avatar, disagreeing with Ty Lee's sentiment was not possible for Xisheng.

Now that she had lost Ty Lee's support, Azula had clearly cranked up the intensity of her offensive, using greater sweeps of flame and more powerful javelins of her element when she struck to actually do damage.

Granted, now that all he had to focus on was Azula, Aang himself was able to put more effort into his evasion as well. But not for the first time, evasion and defense seemed to be his only interest. Sure, he made attacks of his own from time to time; subtle undercurrents that aimed to knock Azula off her feet, direct kicks of wind that attempted to knock her into a wall, and even the occasional thrown piece of furniture, carried by a gust.

But watching him battle, Xisheng could tell why Azula was in almost no danger from any of this; the Avatar lacked the one critical component he needed to utterly demolish the likes of Azula and her group with his power, and that element was the very desire to win. Naturally, Aang wanted to escape, and likely wanted his friends to continue living. But he didn't actually want to defeat his foe. He didn't want to really achieve victory at any cost. He didn't even want to hurt Azula, someone that was essentially trying to kill him.

Being so naive is what prevented the Avatar from utilizing his might to the fullest potential. If he was willing to hurt or even kill his Fire Nation foes, his trouble would have been over long ago. Clearly, he had yet to learn the very lesson the destruction of his people had epitomized; the world did not reward the innocent and the naive.

It was a shame really, because as best as Xisheng could tell, Aang had the makings of a truly great fighter. Granted, Xisheng was no expert on what good Airbending was supposed to look like, but Aang's fluid motions, quick reactions, and creative use of his element showed that he was indeed more skilled than your average Airbender.

If the young Avatar just had the necessary conviction to put it all to good use, Xisheng was certain that his fight with Azula would not be so one-sided at the moment.

As it was, the heir to the Fire Nation had managed to corner the Avatar in one corner of the room, where she unleashed a blast of most considerable size at the boy. However, Aang's much lauded creativity in a tight spot surprised even Azula; using his Airbending, her foe used the air around him to contain the incoming inferno, forming a sphere of wind around it before constricting it down. In moments the starved blue flame faded into nothing, prompting Azula to fall back on a different plan.

Stepping into the familiar motions for her deadliest attack, it was clear that Azula intended to conjure lightning right here in the Beifong dining hall. Not recognizing the technique since his back had been turned last time, Aang likely had no idea just how important it would be to dodge this next attack, or how much more difficult it would be compared to flame. In fact, it was very likely that this strike would kill the Avatar outright.

Or rather, it would have, if only a solid wall of stone hadn't erected itself between Azula and her target before she had even gone through the motions. Xisheng and Ty Lee found a similar barrier erected to separate them from Katara, at a much needed time for the Waterbender. She barely had any ammunition left to fight with.

Elsewhere in the room, a voice of protest could be heard from Sokka.

"Hey, what about me? Protect me too!"

While everyone else turned their gazes to the only person that could have erected these stone walls, Toph herself was clearly paying attention to Sokka's situation, which included being completely pinned to the wall by an assortment of daggers, knives, and needles. Mai had actually taken a seat some time ago, opting to watch the rest of the fight rather than participate further. How long she had been doing that was anyone's guess, and Toph stated the obvious.

"If you were in danger you'd be much worse off than you are, Noodle."

"Hey, what are you trying to-"

Considering the more important situation at hand, Azula cut off the negligible complaint.

"What's the meaning of this? Why bother holding a martial contest if you are going to intervene?"

Toph lowered the walls she had erected before answering.

"Well geez, I never said you had to fight to the death. Seriously, are you always this terrifying?"

"I demanded an answer, not an evasion."

Probably displeased with Azula's tone, Toph nevertheless remained uncharacteristically mature for the moment.

"I guess you did, huh? Look, I told you that I wanted to see who was stronger. I might have stopped the fight short, but it seems obvious to me that the Avatar's gang is no match for the Harpy Trinity Plus One. I mean, anyone that can put the Avatar on the ropes like that must be a top bender, right? And that's exactly why I'm gonna join Twinkletoes here instead of you."

From his position on the wall, Sokka cocked an eyebrow at the girl.

"You are? You had a contest of strength and you're siding with the one you think is weaker?"

"I told you Twig Legs, if I want to prove myself as the strongest Earthbender, I have to fight the strongest opponents! And how am I supposed to seriously battle with your betters if I'm on their side? Besides, you guys are outnumbered by the opposition. Stop questioning me and be grateful."

With a mild look of apprehension on her face, Azula leveled a wary glare at the Bei Fong hostess.

"I suppose you intend to test your might straight away?"

With an eager smirk, Toph cracked her knuckles.

"To be honest I'd love to. But if I'm not gone before my parents get back things are going to get a lot more complicated. And as much as I hate to admit it, I'm not confident that I could take you all that quickly. But if you're really determined to fight..."

Coming to stand beside the Princess, Xisheng lowered his voice in an attempt to advise her without anyone else hearing.

"I don't know if we could take her in here. This entire building is stone, we're practically in a coffin."

Azula's gaze narrowed as she considered the situation. It was very likely that she was weighing the potential risk and gain. After all, any opportunity they had to capture or kill the Avatar was a golden one. There was absolutely no guarantee they'd have him in their clutches like this again. Furthermore, if Toph went with the Avatar, then this entire exercise was completely moot and they would have achieved nothing at all.

But while she hated to admit defeat of any sort, Azula knew her own abilities, and that of her teammates. Could she defeat the Avatar in a one on one fight? Quite likely. Could she take down Toph in a duel? Also quite probable. But could she take on both at the same time, while trapped in a room made entirely of the latter's element, even with her allies backing her up? That fight would be tenable at best and damn near suicidal at worst.

"While I'm sure we would both enjoy the challenge of a good opponent for once, you probably have a fair point in regards to your father. I imagine he'll unleash all the resources at his disposal regardless when he finds out you're missing, but if you leave before he gets back you'll have a head start. You wouldn't want to miss that opportunity, now would you?"

The Beifong in question folded her arms.

"The only reason I'm not gonna accuse you of making an excuse is because that makes a lot of sense. He'll probably pay legions of goons to bring me back. But are you really just going to let us walk out of here without a fight? You seemed kind of serious about taking out the Avatar and all that."

With the different parties beginning to congregate around each other, Katara had come to stand next to Toph, along with Aang who had done the same. Sokka was still stuck to the wall.

"I don't buy it either. You really expect us to believe you'll let us leave? After all the trouble you went through to be waiting for us before we even got here?"

"Believe what you want, peasant. Our hostess has made her decision, and far be from me to disagree with her on who is truly the most dangerous among us. Besides, we're _technically_ under her employ. If she wants to leave without trouble, who are we to refuse?"

Seemingly accepting this explanation, Toph pumped both fists in the air.

"Alright! I'm heading to my room to grab a few things I need. But before I do, everyone just remember this!"

The Earthbender pointed a finger roughly at Aang's face.

"Don't forget; I'm not in this to save the world or shower strangers with kindness and generosity. I'll teach you Earthbending, but don't bother me with any of that idealistic crap."

She then pointed a finger at Azula's company.

"And as for you guys, next time we meet I won't accept any excuses! We'll fight for sure and I won't hold anything back!"

To Xisheng's great surprise, Azula almost seemed excited by the notion.

"We'll be more than willing to meet your challenge with the same."

With a smirk, Toph turned on her heel and headed for the exit to the dining room, herding the wary Katara and Aang along with her. Sokka was still stuck on the wall.

"Hey! Don't forget about-"

With a solid push from the stone wall itself, the Water Tribe warrior found himself freed from his restraints, though with a great many tears in his clothes. Likely uncomfortable with the display, he quickly gathered his boomerang before shooting a glare at his nemesis. However, he was quick to retreat towards his friends when Mai returned a much more threatening one. He probably wouldn't forget the humiliating defeat at her hands for awhile. Xisheng felt kind of bad for him; he got the impression Sokka might have felt a little insecure about his masculinity, what with all these far more powerful or skilled women around. Not being a bender probably only exacerbated it. It would probably benefit him to learn a martial art or two.

Regardless, in a truly surreal aftermath, the Fire Nation infiltrators were left alone in the Bei Fong dining hall, which was utterly ruined by the very recent conflict. There were holes left from Toph's Earthbending, chunks of ice stuck to different angles, and more than one tapestry was on fire. And the four of them stood in the middle of the destruction, paying no mind to it at all. Mai needed to ask a serious question anyway.

"Is this really alright? We did all this crap just to let them walk away? If we don't stop them everything we did here was a waste of time."

With a sigh, Azula stared at the doorway their foes had dissappeared into.

"Not to state the obvious, but fighting them here would have been a mistake once the Earthbender joined in. This room, and in fact the entire estate, would be a deathtrap. I'm not pleased to let the Avatar escape my clutches a second time, but getting buried under a pile of rubble won't help. We'll face them again another time; preferably in a location where we the odds are bit more even."

A rather prominent scowl settled onto Mai's face, but she didn't voice anything else. Ty Lee on the other hand felt that there was something else important worth mentioning.

"So, what do we uh... do about all this?"

The acrobat gestured vaguely at the carnage around them, which prompted Azula to shrug.

"We tell the truth, obviously. I'm sure our most recent employer will be utterly enthralled by the story of the Avatar himself kidnapping his daughter."

"Azula, that's not the truth..."

"It's as close to the truth as we can get as far as serving our purposes are concerned. We can hardly tell him that we're Fire Nation hunters that were pit into a duel with the Avatar in order for his daughter to decide who to run away with. Our altered truth with free us from blame and also besmirch the Avatar's name. It's the best we can get out of this situationat this point."

Despite her sour mood, Mai spoke up again.

"You think he'll believe that the Avatar kidnapped his kid?"

"But of course. His own guards can confirm that he was indeed the Avatar. And seeing as how the Avatar is not here and we still are, she can only be with him."

It was Xisheng who spoke up next.

"Why stick around to inform Lao of anything? Shouldn't we hightail it back to the Overlord so we can be ready to pursue the Avatar?"

"Lieutenant, if you think we can make it all the way back to the Overlord before the Avatar and his brats can hop on their flying beef and be in the wind, I believe you're sorely mistaken. They've won this round, in a manner of speaking. We'll worry about getting even later."

Xisheng had to admit that Azula was nowhere near as bent out of shape about this as he had expected her to be. Mai was right in saying that they had accomplished nothing they had set out to do. Their entire 'operation' here in Gaoling was a failure. And yet Azula still had that mildly pleased smirk on her face. Frankly, Xisheng couldn't help but wonder if the idea of a similarly skilled rival actually exicted her.

"What in the name of all the spirits happened here?!"

The four Fire Nation citizens turned to face Lao and his wife just as the final emerald green tapestry fluttered to the ground in flames. The look on Lao's face showed that he couldn't believe his eyes. The look on Azula's face showed that she was barely restraining an amused smile.

* * *

 **I don't know why, but the fight scenes (if you can even call it that) this time around really gave me trouble. Almost like I had a block specfically for fight scenes and nothing else. I think part of the problem is the restrictions of the plot itself, which I know sounds weird coming from the writer. There are so many interesting techniques and special attacks to do with bending; but so many of them are lethal that I can hardly employ them.**

 **I suppose my far greater strength has always been dialogue and characterization. If anyone has interesting ideas in regards to combat and fighting in the Avatar universe, feel free to mention them. Naturally there's going to be a lot of fights throughout the story, so the more interesting ways to fight I have in store, the more interesting things will continue to be.**


End file.
